China Stock Market May Halt Slide On Tuesday

(RTTNews) - The China stock market has moved lower in consecutive trading days, sinking more than 35 points or 1.1 percent along the way. The Shanghai Composite Index now sits just above the 3,250-point plateau although it figures to find traction on Tuesday. The global forecast for the Asian markets is positive on easing concerns over the health of the financial sector. The European markets were up and the U.S. bourses were mixed and the Asian markets figure to split the difference.

The SCI finished modestly lower on Monday following losses from the oil companies, financial shares and property stocks.

For the day, the index shed 14.26 points or 0.44 percent to finish at 3,251.40 after trading between 3,229.70 and 3,261.82. Among the actives, Industrial and Commercial Bank of China shed 0.45 percent, while Bank of China skidded 1.18 percent, China Construction Bank sank 0.83 percent, China Merchants Bank lost 0.64 percent, Bank of Communications fell 0.39 percent, China Life Insurance jumped 1.90 percent, Jiangxi Copper added 0.62 percent, Aluminum Corp of China (Chalco) plunged 2.85 percent, Yankuang Energy skyrocketed 10.02 percent, PetroChina declined 1.06 percent, China Petroleum and Chemical (Sinopec) plummeted 3.08 percent, Huaneng Power retreated 1.50 percent, China Shenhua Energy tanked 4.49 percent, Gemdale tumbled 1.96 percent, Poly Developments slumped 1.32 percent and China Vanke surrendered 2.15 percent.

The lead from Wall Street is mixed to higher as the major averages opened in the green on Monday, although the tech-heavy NASDAQ quickly slipped into negative territory and never emerged.

The Dow jumped 194.55 points or 0.60 percent to finish at 32,432.08, while the NASDAQ sank 55.12 points or 0.47 percent to end at 11,768.84 and the S&P 500 rose 6.54 points or 0.16 percent to close at 3,977.53.

The early strength on Wall Street came as traders looked to build on last week's gains as fears of a global banking crisis once again eased following the latest developments in the sector.

Shares of First Citizens BancShares (FCNCA) skyrocketed after the company reached an agreement with the FDIC to purchase all deposits and loans of failed Silicon Valley Bridge Bank.

U.S.-listed shares of Deutsche Bank (DB) also showed a strong move back to the upside after German Chancellor Olaf Scholz noted the bank remains profitable.

Crude oil prices climbed higher on Monday amid concerns about oil supply after Russian President Vladmir Putin said he will station tactical nuclear weapons in ally Belarus. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for May surged $3.55 or 5.1 percent at $72.81 a barrel.