BEIJING (dpa-AFX) - The China stock market on Tuesday ended the modest two-day winning streak in which it had gathered more than 20 points or 0.6 percent. The Shanghai Composite Index now sits just beneath the 3,375-point plateau and it's looking at a steady start on Wednesday.
The global forecast for the Asian markets is flat to higher, nudged into the green by gains in crude oil prices. The European and U.S. markets were mixed and little changed and the Asian bourses are likely to follow suit.
The SCI finished modestly lower on Tuesday as losses from the energy producers were mitigated by support from the properties and a mixed picture from the financials.
For the day, the index lost 12.06 points or 0.36 percent to finish at 3,373.58 after trading between 3,364.16 and 3,408.87. The Shenzhen Composite Index rose 2.50 points or 0.11 percent to end at 2,280.75.
Among the actives, Industrial and Commercial Bank of China added 0.20 percent, while China Construction Bank eased 0.16 percent, China Merchants Bank rose 0.21 percent, Bank of Communications collected 0.21 percent, China Life Insurance was up 0.02 percent, Ping An Insurance improved 0.40 percent, PetroChina slid 0.22 percent, China Petroleum and Chemical (Sinopec) lost 0.25 percent, China Shenhua Energy dropped 0.82 percent, Gemdale gained 0.60 percent, Poly Developments increased 0.36 percent, China Vanke perked 0.22 percent and Bank of China was unchanged.
The lead from Wall Street is cautiously optimistic as stocks moved higher on Tuesday, although the Dow eventually slipped into the red while the NASDAQ and S&P 500 hit fresh record closing highs.
The Dow shed 60.02 points or 0.21 percent to finish at 28,248.44, while the NASDAQ added 86.75 points or 0.76 percent to end at 11,466.47 and the S&P 500 rose 12.34 points or 0.36 percent to close at 3,443.62.
The drop by the Dow came as Exxon Mobil (XOM), Raytheon (RTX) and Pfizer (PFE) tumbled on the news they're being removed from the blue chip index. Those three stocks will be replaced by Salesforce.com (CRM), Honeywell (HON), and Amgen (AMGN), which rallied.
Traders were also looking ahead to Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell's speech at the Jackson Hole symposium on Thursday. Analysts suggest Powell will signal an increased tolerance for higher inflation, with some predicting he will call for a shift to average inflation targeting rather than the long-standing 2 percent target.
In economic news, the Commerce Department reported a bigger than expected spike in new home sales last month - while a separate report from the Conference Board showed its consumer confidence index slumped again in August.
Oil prices moved higher on Tuesday, fueled by storm-driven production cuts on the U.S. Gulf Coast as traders look ahead to weekly inventory data. West Texas Intermediate crude futures jumped 73 cents or 1.7 to $43.35 a barrel.
Copyright RTT News/dpa-AFX
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