Win Streak Expected To End For China Stock Market

(RTTNews) - The China stock market has finished higher in three straight sessions, gathering more than 110 points or 3.5 percent along the way. The Shanghai Composite Index now sits just beneath the 3,380-point plateau although the rally may stall on Tuesday.

The global forecast for the Asian markets is mixed to lower, with support from oil stocks likely to offset weakness from technology shares. The European markets were mixed and the U.S. bourses were down and the Asian markets figure to split the difference.

The SCI finished modestly higher on Monday following gains from the financial shares and oil companies, while the energy stocks and properties were mixed.

For the day, the index improved 29.44 points or 0.88 percent to finish at 3,379.19 after trading between 3,364.00 and 3,393.31. The Shenzhen Composite Index climbed 24.32 points or 1.11 percent to end at 2,216.99.

Among the actives, Industrial and Commercial Bank of China shed 0.63 percent, while China Construction Bank eased 0.17 percent, China Merchants Bank rallied 2.61 percent, Bank of Communications collected 0.20 percent, China Life Insurance skidded 1.01 percent, Jiangxi Copper spiked 2.46 percent, Aluminum Corp of China (Chalco) strengthened 1.27 percent, Yankuang Energy skyrocketed 7.04 percent, PetroChina advanced 0.94 percent, China Petroleum and Chemical (Sinopec) added 0.49 percent, Huaneng Power plunged 3.11 percent, China Shenhua Energy surged 3.91 percent, Gemdale plummeted 3.31 percent, Poly Developments accelerated 2.22 percent, China Vanke improved 0.93 percent, Beijing Capital fell 0.21 percent and China Fortune Land and Bank of China were unchanged.

The lead from Wall Street is negative as the major averages quickly headed south on Monday, rebounded midday and then turned modestly lower again into the close.

The Dow sank 62.42 points or 0.20 percent to finish at 31,438.26, while the NASDAQ shed 83.07 points or 0.72 percent to end at 11,524.55 and the S&P 500 dipped 11.63 points or 0.30 percent to close at 3,900.11.

The volatility came as investors stayed cautious, reassessing the expected path of Federal Reserve interest rate hikes amid falling inflation expectations.

In economic news, the Commerce Department said new orders for U.S. manufactured durable goods increased more than expected in May. Also, the National Association of Realtors noted an unexpected rebound in pending home sales in May.

Oil futures settled higher on Monday, extending gains from the previous session amid slightly easing worries about outlook for energy demand. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for August ended higher by $1.95 or 1.8 percent at $109.57 a barrel.