The China stock market on Tuesday snapped the four-day winning streak in which it had climbed almost 75 points or 2.3 percent. The Shanghai Composite Index now sits just above the 3,400-point plateau although it's expected to move higher again on Wednesday.
The global forecast for the Asian is strong on continued optimism for a coronavirus vaccine. The European and U.S. markets were up and the Asian markets are tipped to at least open in similar fashion.
The SCI finished modestly lower on Tuesday as losses from the financials and properties were mitigated by support from the resource stocks.
For the day, the index fell 11.67 points or 0.34 percent to finish at 3,402.82 after trading between 3,396.24 and 3,413.93. The Shenzhen Composite Index sank 7.81 points or 0.34 percent to end at 2,294.15.
Among the actives, Industrial and Commercial Bank of China shed 0.39 percent, while Bank of China collected 0.31 percent, China Construction Bank skidded 1.04 percent, China Merchants Bank retreated 1.17 percent, Bank of Communications fell 0.43 percent, China Life Insurance tumbled 1.76 percent, Ping An Insurance plunged 1.41 percent, Jiangxi Copper surged 5.06 percent, Aluminum Corp of China (Chalco) soared 6.46 percent, Yanzhou Coal spiked 2,81 percent, PetroChina added 0.46 percent, China Petroleum and Chemical (Sinopec) dipped 0.24 percent, China Shenhua Energy rose 0.11 percent, Gemdale lost 0.73 percent, Poly Developments sank 1.06 percent, China Vanke was down 0.61 percent and Beijing Capital Development declined 0.93 percent.
The lead from Wall Street is broadly positive as stocks opened higher on Tuesday and picked up steam as the day progressed, ending in the green for the second straight day.
The Dow soared 454.97 points or 1.54 percent to finish at a record 30,046.24, while the NASDAQ jumped 156.15 points or 1.31 percent to end at 12,036.79 and the S&P 500 advanced 57.82 points or 1.62 percent to close at 3,635.41.
The spike on Wall Street came in reaction to confirmation about President-elect Joe Biden's transition to the White House, removing some of the uncertainty surrounding the election.
Recent encouraging updates on the coronavirus vaccine front continued to aid sentiment in the face of continued spikes in new cases across the country.
Also, the market appeared to be hoping that a new administration at White House will decide on a fiscal stimulus soon and begin efforts to put the economy back on track.
Crude oil prices rose sharply on Tuesday and lifted the most active futures contract to their highest close since March thank to easing concerns about energy demand on upbeat updates on potential coronavirus vaccine. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for January spiked $1.85 or 4.3 percent at $44.91 a barrel.
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