The China stock market has finished lower in two straight sessions, tumbling more than 75 points or 2.3 percent along the way. The Shanghai Composite index now sits just beneath the 3,370-point plateau and it's predicted to open under pressure again on Thursday.
The global forecast for the Asian suggests consolidation, with the volatile technology stocks in particular expected to weigh. The European markets were mixed and the U.S. bourses were down and the Asian markets figure to split the difference.
The SCI finished sharply lower on Wednesday following heavy losses from the resource and property stocks, while the financials were mixed.
For the day, the index plunged 44.45 points or 1.30 percent to finish at 3,367.06 after trading between 3,362.18 and 3,415.29. The Shenzhen Composite Index tumbled 30.96 points or 1.41 percent to end at 2,166.75.
Among the actives, Industrial and Commercial Bank of China rose 0.19 percent, while Bank of China collected 0.30 percent, China Construction Bank retreated 1.65 percent, China Merchants Bank tanked 2.39 percent, Bank of Communications shed 0.43 percent, China Life Insurance lost 0.53 percent, Jiangxi Copper plummeted 7.21 percent, Aluminum Corp of China (Chalco) plunged 6.09 percent, Yanzhou Coal cratered 3.67 percent, PetroChina skidded 1.16 percent, China Petroleum and Chemical (Sinopec) dropped 0.94 percent, China Shenhua Energy tumbled 1.93 percent, Gemdale sank 3.64 percent, Poly Developments declined 1.31 percent, China Vanke surrendered 2.10 percent and China Fortune Land erased 8.97 percent.
The lead from Wall Street is negative as the major averages opened higher on Wednesday but then headed south and eventually finished in the red.
The Dow eased 3.09 points or 0.01 percent to finish at 32,420.06, while the NASDAQ plummeted 265.81 points or 2.01 percent to end at 12,961.89 and the S&P 500 lost 21.38 points or 0.55 percent to close at 3,889.14.
Lingering concerns about the outlook for high-growth companies contributed to the sell-off by technology stocks, which have seen considerable volatility in recent sessions.
Unlike previous sessions, the weakness in the tech sector came amid a continued pullback by treasury yields. The yield on the benchmark ten-year note moved lower for the third straight day and has now fallen 14 basis points since reaching a fourteen-month intraday high last Thursday.
In economic news, the Commerce Department said new orders for U.S. manufactured durable goods unexpectedly decreased in February.
Crude oil futures surged on Wednesday after a container ship got struck in the Suez Canal and raised concerns about possible supply disruptions. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for May ended up $3.42 or 5.9 percent at $61.18 a barrel.
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