China Stock Market May Spin Its Wheels On Tuesday

(RTTNews) - The China stock market has finished lower in two of three trading days since the end of the two-day winning streak in which it had climbed more than 50 points or 1.6 percent. The Shanghai Composite Index now sits just above the 3,320-point plateau and it's expected to remain in that neighborhood again on Tuesday.

The global forecast for the Asian markets is mixed and flat amidst a lack of catalysts. The European and U.S. bourses were little changed and the Asian markets are expected to open in similar fashion.

The SCI finished slightly lower on Monday following losses from the properties, gains from the oil companies and a mixed picture from the financials.

For the day, the index dipped 6.37 points or 0.19 percent to finish at 3,322.03 after trading between 3,308.73 and 3,333.06. The Shenzhen Composite Index picked up 0.03 points or 0.00 percent to end at 2,152.15.

Among the actives, Industrial and Commercial Bank of China dipped 0.23 percent, while China Construction Bank fell 0.34 percent, China Merchants Bank plunged 3.27 percent, Bank of Communications collected 0.20 percent, China Life Insurance tanked 2.30 percent, Jiangxi Copper shed 0.55 percent, Aluminum Corp of China (Chalco) lost 0.52 percent, Yankuang Energy plummeted 3.58 percent, PetroChina perked 0.18 percent, China Petroleum and Chemical (Sinopec) strengthened 1.59 percent, Huaneng Power surged 3.94 percent, China Shenhua Energy skidded 1.12 percent, Gemdale tumbled 3.43 percent, Poly Developments retreated 1.99 percent, China Vanke slumped 2.14 percent, China Fortune Land Development declined 1.83 percent and Bank of China was unchanged.

The lead from Wall Street offers little clarity as the major averages opened higher on Monday but faded badly in the afternoon, finishing mixed and little changed.

The Dow added 40.47 points or 0.12 percent to finish at 33,431.44, while the NASDAQ dipped 13.27 points or 0.11 percent to close at 11,675.74 and the S&P 500 perked 2.78 points or 0.07 percent to end at 4,048.42.

The early strength on Wall Street came as treasury yields moved notably lower amid optimism that the Federal Reserve is close to finishing its aggressive interest rate hikes.

Buying interest waned over the course of the session, however, as treasury yields rebounded ahead of congressional testimony by Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell - who is due to testify before the Senate Banking Committee later today and the House Financial Services Committee on Wednesday.

The Labor Department's closely watched monthly employment report is also likely to attract attention later in the week.

Crude oil futures settled higher on Monday after Saudi Arabia signaled that it sees oil demand picking up in Asia and Europe by raising most prices for crude shipments to the regions. West Texas International Crude oil futures for April advanced $0.78 or 1 percent at $80.46 a barrel.

Closer to home, China will see February data for imports, exports and trade balance later this morning. Imports are expected to slip 5.3 percent on year after dropping 7.5 percent a month earlier. Exports are seen lower by 10.0 percent after sinking 9.9 percent in January. The trade surplus is pegged at $80.90 billion, up from $78.00 billion in the previous month.