No Help Yet For China Stock Market

(RTTNews) - The China stock market has moved lower in three straight sessions, falling almost 70 points or 2.3 percent along the way. The Shanghai Composite Index now rests just above the 3,100-point plateau and it's expected to extend its losses on Tuesday. The global forecast for the Asian markets is mixed to lower on concerns over the health of the global economy and the outlook for interest rates. The European markets were up and the U.S. bourses were down and the Asian markets figure to follow the latter lead. The SCI finished sharply lower on Monday following losses from the financial shares, property stocks and resource companies. For the day, the index tumbled 60.74 points or 1.92 percent to finish at 3,107.11 after trading between 3,096.10 and 3,170.26. The Shenzhen Composite Index dropped 36.32 points or 1.78 percent to end at 2,003.20. Among the actives, Industrial and Commercial Bank of China shed 0.70 percent, while Bank of China dropped 0.94 percent, China Construction Bank skidded 1.06 percent, China Merchants Bank retreated 1.59 percent, Bank of Communications declined 1.47 percent, China Life Insurance tumbled 1.80 percent, Jiangxi Copper surrendered 2.46 percent, Aluminum Corp of China (Chalco) tanked 2.95 percent, Yankuang Energy stumbled 2.83 percent, PetroChina weakened 1.76 percent, China Petroleum and Chemical (Sinopec) slumped 2.25 percent, Huaneng Power plunged 2.11 percent, China Shenhua Energy lost 1.54 percent, Gemdale fell 1.82 percent, Poly Developments declined 1.56 percent, China Vanke dipped 0.15 percent and China Fortune Land plummeted 2.58 percent. The lead from Wall Street is negative as the major averages fluctuated early Monday but then headed well into the red and finished under pressure.

The Dow dropped 162.92 points or 0.49 percent to finish at 32,757.54, while the NASDAQ retreated 159.38 points or 1.49 percent to close at 10,546.03 and the S&P 500 slumped 34.70 points or 0.90 percent to end at 3,817.66.

The extended weakness on Wall Street came as traders continue to express concerns about the outlook for the economy. The Federal Reserve said it will continue raising interest rates next year, leading to worries the aggressive policy tightening will tip the economy into a recession.

In U.S. economic news, the National Association of Home Builders reported that homebuilder confidence in the U.S. unexpectedly saw a continued deterioration in December.

Crude oil prices climbed higher on Monday amid optimism about increased demand for oil from China after the country relaxed certain COVID-related restrictions. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for January ended higher by $0.91 or 1.25 percent at $75.20 a barrel.