(RTTNews) – The China stock market has tracked higher in consecutive trading days, gathering more than 70 points or 2 percent along the way. The Shanghai Composite Index now rests just above the 3,435-point plateau although it figures to turn lower on Tuesday.
The global forecast for the Asian markets is mixed to lower, with rising bond yields offset by rising crude oil prices. The European and U.S. markets were mixed and the Asian markets are expected to follow suit.
The SCI finished modestly higher on Monday following gains from the financial shares and resource stocks, while the properties were mixed.
For the day, the index gained 16.97 points or 0.50 percent to finish at 3,435.30 after trading between 3,409.89 and 3,449.83. The Shenzhen Composite Index perked 3.98 points or 0.18 percent to end at 2,218.79.
Among the actives, Industrial and Commercial Bank of China rallied 2.06 percent, while Bank of China collected 0.92 percent, China Construction Bank jumped 1.69 percent, China Merchants Bank skidded 1.28 percent, Bank of Communications soared 3.86 percent, China Life Insurance fell 0.28 percent, Jiangxi Copper eased 0.05 percent, Aluminum Corp of China (Chalco) gained 0.79 percent, Yanzhou Coal skyrocketed 9.64 percent, PetroChina rose 0.23 percent, China Petroleum and Chemical (Sinopec) climbed 1.18 percent, China Shenhua Energy surged 9.98 percent, Gemdale improved 0.41 percent, Poly Developments was up 0.07 percent, China Vanke advanced 0.91 percent, China Fortune Land retreated 1.59 percent and Beijing Capital Development lost 0.68 percent.
The lead from Wall Street is uninspired as the major averages opened lower on Monday and largely stayed that way, with only the Dow peeking into positive territory at the close.
The Dow added 98.49 points or 0.30 percent to finish at 33,171.37, while the NASDAQ sank 79.08 points or 0.60 percent to end at 13,059.65 and the S&P 500 eased 3.45 points or 0.09 percent to close at 3,971.09.
The soft start on Monday came amid profit taking after the Dow and the S&P 500 ended the previous session at new record closing highs.
Adding to the pessimism, the yield on U.S. 10-year Treasury Note rose to over 1.70 percent, again fueling inflation concerns.
Overall trading activity was somewhat subdued ahead of the release of the Labor Department’s monthly jobs report on Friday.
Crude oil futures settled higher on Monday amid concerns about possible supply disruptions – but news about freeing the container ship that had blocked the Suez canal helped limit oil’s upside. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for May ended higher by $0.59 or 1 percent at $61.56 a barrel.
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