China Bourse May Cling To Support At 3,000 Points

The China stock market bounced higher again on Tuesday, one day after ending the eight-day winning streak in which it had surged more than 300 points or 10.9 percent. The Shanghai Composite Index now rests just above the 3,015-point plateau although it may be stuck in neutral on Wednesday.

The global forecast for the Asian markets is murky and flat ahead of key economic data later this week. The European and U.S. markets were mixed and little changed and the Asian markets figure to open in similar fashion.

The SCI finished sharply higher on Tuesday following gains from the properties and resource stocks, while the financials came in mixed.

For the day, the index jumped 38.46 points or 1.29 percent to finish at the daily high of 3,015.48 after trading as low as 2,961.15.

Among the actives, Industrial and Commercial Bank of China shed 0.38 percent, while Agricultural Bank of China collected 0.48 percent, China Construction Bank added 0.43 percent, China Merchants Bank slid 0.22 percent, Jiangxi Copper gained 0.67 percent, Aluminum Corp of China (Chalco) jumped 1.85 percent, Yankuang Energy dipped 0.23 percent, PetroChina rose 0.45 percent, China Petroleum and Chemical (Sinopec) eased 0.16 percent, Huaneng Power slumped 1.15 percent. China Shenhua Energy was down 0.05 percent, Gemdale spiked 2.11 percent, Poly Developments improved 0.51 percent, China Vanke advanced 0.80 percent and Bank of China, Bank of Communications and China Life Insurance were unchanged.

The lead from Wall Street is uninspired as the major averages opened mixed on Tuesday and ended little changed and on opposite sides of the line.

The Dow slumped 96.82 points or 0.25 percent to finish at 38,972.41, while the NASDAQ added 59.05 points or 0.37 percent to close at 16,035.30 and the S&P 500 rose 8.65 points or 0.17 percent to end at 5,078.18.

Traders stuck to the sidelines ahead of the release of some key economic data later this week, including a closely watched inflation reading.

The inflation data could have a notable impact on the outlook for interest rates, as Fed officials have said they need greater confidence inflation is slowing before cutting rates.

In economic news, the Commerce Department noted a substantial decrease in new orders for U.S. manufactured durable goods in January. Also, the Conference Board released a report showing an unexpected deterioration in U.S. consumer confidence in February.

Oil prices moved higher Tuesday on supply concerns due to the disruptions in the Red Sea route and amid uncertainty about a cease-fire in the Israel-Hamas war. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for April ended higher by $1.29 or 1.66 percent at $78.87 a barrel.