The China stock market on Wednesday snapped the two-day winning streak in which it had gained more than 50 points or 1.4 percent. The Shanghai Composite Index now sits just above the 3,515-point plateau and it's expected to be rangebound on Thursday.
The global forecast for the Asian suggests little movement on stimulus concerns and lackluster earnings news. The European and U.S. markets were mixed and little changed and the Asian markets figure to follow that lead.
The SCI finished modestly lower on Wednesday following losses from the financial shares and property stocks, while the resources were mixed.
For the day, the index slid 16.38 points or 0.46 percent to finish at 3,517.31 after trading between 3,508.51 and 3,544.01. The Shenzhen Composite Index dropped 20.86 points or 0.87 percent to end at 2,380.79.
Among the actives, Industrial and Commercial Bank of China dropped 0.98 percent, while Bank of China shed 0.31 percent, China Construction Bank sank 0.74 percent, China Merchants Bank rallied 2.08 percent, China Minsheng Bank eased 0.20 percent, China Life Insurance tanked 2.06 percent, Jiangxi Copper retreated 0.82 percent, Aluminum Corp of China (Chalco) spiked 2.15 percent, Yanzhou Coal declined 0.58 percent, China Petroleum and Chemical (Sinopec) gained 0.76 percent, Huaneng Power plunged 2.51 percent, China Shenhua Energy lost 0.53 percent, Gemdale fell 0.71 percent, Poly Developments tumbled 1.71 percent, China Vanke skidded 1.48 percent and China Fortune Land, Bank of Communications and PetroChina were unchanged.
The lead from Wall Street offers little clarity as stocks showed a lack of direction on Wednesday, bouncing back and forth across the unchanged line before ending mixed and little changed.
The Dow added 36.12 points or 0.12 percent to finish at 30,723.60, while the NASDAQ eased 2.23 points or 0.02 percent to end at 13,610.54 and the S&P 500 rose 3.86 points or 0.10 percent to close at 3,830.17.
Earnings news was inconsistent as Google parent Alphabet (GOOGL), Amgen (AMGN) and Amazon all beat the street although only Alphabet posted gains in the market.
The lackluster performance by the broader markets followed the release of some upbeat economic data, which raised concerns lawmakers will feel less pressure to provide additional stimulus.
Payroll processor ADP noted a much stronger than expected rebound in private sector employment in January, while the Institute for Supply Management showed U.S. service sector activity unexpectedly accelerated last month.
Crude oil prices moved higher to hit 11-month highs on Wednesday, lifted by OPEC's decision to cut crude production for two months. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for March ended up $0.93 or 1.7 percent at $55.69 a barrel.
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