China Bourse May Run Out Of Steam On Tuesday

(RTTNews) - The China stock market has ticked higher in three straight sessions, rising almost 15 points or 0.4 percent in that span. The Shanghai Composite Index now sits just above the 3,405-point plateau, although the rally may stall on Tuesday.

The global forecast for the Asian markets is soft, with profit taking expected by the year's end - especially among the technology stocks. The European and U.S. markets were down and the Asian bourses figure to open in similar fashion.

The SCI finished slightly higher again on Monday as gains from the financial hares and resource stocks were capped by weakness from the property sector.

For the day, the index rose 7.18 points or 0.21 percent to finish at 3,407.33 after trading between 3,394.96 and 3,412.84. The Shenzhen Composite Index slipped 6.47 points or 0.32 percent to end at 2,008.49.

Among the actives, Industrial and Commercial Bank of China collected 0.43 percent, while Bank of China and Jiangxi Copper both advanced 0.91 percent, China Construction Bank rose 0.34 percent, China Merchants Bank improved 0.71 percent, Agricultural Bank of China climbed 1.13 percent, China Life Insurance strengthened 1.20 percent, Aluminum Corp of China (Chalco) spiked 2.75 percent, Yankuang Energy rallied 1.29 percent, PetroChina increased 0.90 percent, China Petroleum and Chemical (Sinopec) accelerated 1.05 percent, Huaneng Power shed 0.44 percent, China Shenhua Energy jumped 1.40 percent, Gemdale tumbled 1.73 percent, Poly Developments slumped 1.53 percent and China Vanke tanked 2.52 percent.

The lead from Wall Street is weak as the major averages opened lower on Monday and remained in the red throughout the trading day.

The Dow tumbled 418.48 points or 0.97 percent to finish at 42,573.73, while the NASDAQ slumped 235.25 points or 1.19 percent to close at 19.486.79 and the S&P 500 sank 63.90 points or 1.07 percent to end at 5,906.94.

The weakness on Wall Street marked an extension of the sell-off seen last Friday, with traders taking profits going into the end of the year. The major averages still remain poised to post substantial gains for 2024, however, as the tech-heavy NASDAQ is up nearly 30 percent for the year.

Technology stocks climbed off their worst levels after helping lead the early slump but still ended the day notably lower. Significant weakness was visible among semiconductor stocks, as reflected by the 1.9 percent loss posted by the Philadelphia Semiconductor Index.

The sell-off on Wall Street may have been exaggerated by below average volume, as many traders remain away from their desks ahead of the New Year's Day holiday on Wednesday.

Oil prices rose to a five-week high on Monday, continuing to benefit from recent data showing a larger than expected drop in crude inventories in the U.S. Expectations of increased demand from China contributed as well to the rise in oil prices. West Texas Intermediate Crude futures for February rose 0.6 percent to $70.99 a barrel.

Closer to home, China will see December results of the manufacturing, non-manufacturing and composite PMIs from the National Bureau of Statistics later this morning; in November, their scores were 50.3, 50.0 and 50.8, respectively.