China Stock Market Due For Mild Consolidation On Wednesday

The China stock market has climbed higher in back-to-back trading days, collecting almost 110 points or 3 percent along the way. The Shanghai Composite Index now sits just above the 3,600-point plateau although investors may lock in gains on Wednesday,

The global forecast for the Asian markets suggests little movement ahead of the approaching Lunar New Year holiday. The European and U.S. markets were mixed and little changed and the Asian bourses figure to follow suit.

The SCI finished sharply higher on Tuesday following gains from the oil, insurance and resource stocks, while the properties were mixed and the financials were soft.

For the day, the index soared 71.04 points or 2.01 percent to finish at 3,603.49 after trading between 3,528.68 and 3,604.01. The Shenzhen Composite Index spiked 57.46 points or 2.43 percent to end at 2,418.24.

Among the actives, Industrial and Commercial Bank of China fell 0.19 percent, while Bank of China shed 0.31 percent, China Construction Bank lost 0.58 percent, Bank of Communications eased 0.22 percent, China Minsheng Bank slid 0.39 percent, China Life Insurance rallied 2.47 percent, Jiangxi Copper skyrocketed 6.97 percent, Aluminum Corp of China (Chalco) surged 2.89 percent, Yanzhou Coal improved 1.16 percent, PetroChina climbed 1.21 percent, China Petroleum and Chemical (Sinopec) spiked 3.01 percent, China Shenhua Energy advanced 1.22 percent, Gemdale rose 0.26 percent, Poly Developments sank 0.50 percent, China Vanke skidded 1.30 percent and China Merchants Bank and China Fortune Land were unchanged.

The lead from Wall Street offers little guidance as stocks shook off a weak open on Tuesday to finish mixed and little changed following recent strength.

The Dow slid 9.93 points or 0.03 percent to finish at 31,375.83, while the NASDAQ added 20.06 points or 0.14 percent to end at 14,007.70 and the S&P 500 eased 4.36 points or 0.11 percent to close at 3,911.23.

Profit taking contributed to some initial weakness on Wall Street, although selling pressure was relatively subdued as traders worry about missing out on further upside.

Optimism about more fiscal stimulus also helped support the markets along with the recent slowdown in coronavirus infection rates.

Crude oil futures settled higher on Tuesday, extending gains to a seventh straight session amid easing worries about the outlook for energy demand. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for March ended higher by $0.39 or 0.7 percent at $58.36 a barrel, hitting a fresh 13-month high.

Closer to home, China will release January figures for consumer and producer prices later this morning. Overall inflation is called flat on year and up 1.0 percent on month after adding 0.2 percent on year and 0.7 percent on month in December. Producer prices are expected to gain an annual 0.4 percent after falling 0.4 percent in the previous month.