China Stock Market May Spin Its Wheels On Tuesday

The China stock market has moved higher in two straight sessions, advancing almost 35 points or 1 percent along the way. The Shanghai Composite Index now rests just above the 3,460-point plateau although the rally may stall on Tuesday.

The global forecast for the Asian markets calls for continued volatility as the Russian invasion of Ukraine continues. The European markets finished lower and the U.S. bourses ended mixed and the Asian markets figure to split the difference after a wild ride.

The SCI finished modestly higher on Monday following gains from the oil, resource and energy stocks, while the financials and properties were mixed.

For the day, the index added 10.90 points or 0.32 percent to finish at the daily high of 3,462.31 after moving as low as 3,425.52. The Shenzhen Composite Index collected 8.03 points or 0.35 percent to end at 2,318.09.

Among the actives, Industrial and Commercial Bank of China fell 0.21 percent, while Bank of China shed 0.32 percent, China Construction Bank collected 0.33 percent, China Merchants Bank eased 0.02 percent, Bank of Communications sank 0.42 percent, China Life Insurance lost 0.52 percent, Jiangxi Copper rallied 2.07 percent, Aluminum Corp of China (Chalco) spiked 2.37 percent, Yankuang Energy soared 3.19 percent, PetroChina and China Petroleum and Chemical (Sinopec) both improved 0.70 percent, Huaneng Power surged 3.66 percent, China Shenhua Energy accelerated 2.73 percent, Gemdale gathered 0.24 percent, Poly Developments perked 0.06 percent, China Vanke retreated 1.69 percent, China Fortune Land lost 0.64 percent and Beijing Capital Development and China Minsheng Bank were unchanged.

The lead from Wall Street ends up mixed as the major averages opened lower on Monday. Amidst wild swings, the Dow and the S&P 500 remained in the red throughout, although a late surge from the NASDAQ pushed it into positive territory.

The Dow dropped 166.15 points or 0.49 percent to finish at 33,892.60, while the NASDAQ added 56.78 points or 0.41 percent to close at 13,751.40 and the S&P lost 10.71 points or 0.24 percent to end at 4,373.94.

Geopolitical concerns have contributed to the pullback on Wall Street amid the ongoing Russian invasion of Ukraine. News that Russian President Vladimir Putin has put his nuclear forces on high alert has led to worries about an escalation.

Russian and Ukrainian officials are meeting on the Belarusian-Ukrainian border to discuss a possible ceasefire, although optimism the talks will lead to peace is low. The West continues to ramp up sanctions against Russia in response to the invasion, leading to worries about the impact on the global economy.

On the U.S. economic front, MNI Indicators released a report showing a significant slowdown in the pace of growth in Chicago-area business activity in February.

Crude oil futures settled sharply higher Monday amid rising concerns about supply disruptions in Russia. As Russia accounts for about 10 percent of the global oil supply, the sanctions by the West are likely to significantly hurt supplies. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for April ended higher by 4.13 or 4.5 percent at $95.72 a barrel.