China Stock Market May Halt Its Slide On Tuesday

The China stock market has moved lower in three straight sessions, sinking more than 30 points or 1 percent in that span. The Shanghai Composite Index now sits just beneath the 3,050-point plateau although it’s due for support on Tuesday.

The global forecast for the Asian markets is mixed to higher ahead of key data points this week. The European markets were up and the U.S. bourses were mixed and flat and the Asian markets figure to split the difference.

The SCI finished modestly lower on Monday as losses from the property stocks and insurance companies were offset by support from the financial shares and a mixed bag from the resource sector.

For the day, the index sank 22.24 points or 0.72 percent to finish at 3,047.05 after trading between 3,045.47 and 3,077.35. The Shenzhen Composite Index tumbled 31.47 points or 1.78 percent to end at 1,736.49.

Among the actives, Industrial and Commercial Bank of China rallied 1.31 percent, while Bank of China climbed 1.12 percent, China Construction Bank strengthened 1.29 percent, China Merchants Bank collected 0.53 percent, Bank of Communications and Yankuang Energy both added 0.61 percent, China Life Insurance tanked 2.42 percent, Jiangxi Copper improved 1.11 percent, Aluminum Corp of China (Chalco) tumbled 2.14 percent, PetroChina advanced 0.88 percent, China Petroleum and Chemical (Sinopec) perked 0.15 percent, Huaneng Power surged 4.13 percent, China Shenhua Energy dipped 0.03 percent, Gemdale plunged 2.73 percent, Poly Developments slumped 2.28 percent and China Vanke surrendered 2.32 percent.

The lead from Wall Street provides little clarity as the major averages were fairly volatile on Monday but finished mixed and little changed.

The Dow dipped 11.24 points or 0.03 percent to finish at 38,892.80, while the NASDAQ rose 5.43 points or 0.03 percent to close at 16,253.80 and the S&P 500 eased 1.95 points or 0.04 percent to end at 5,202.39.

The choppy trading on the day came as traders seemed reluctant to make significant moves ahead of the release of closely watched inflation data later in the week.

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

Wednesday will also see the release of the minutes of the Fed’s latest monetary policy meeting, which could also shed additional light on officials’ thinking on rates.

Oil prices drifted lower on Monday amid slightly easing geopolitical tensions after Israel removed its troops from Southern Gaza. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for May ended down $0.48 or 0.55 percent at $86.43 a barrel.