The China stock market on Monday snapped the two-day slide in which it had fallen almost 30 points or 0.8 percent. The Shanghai Composite Index now rests just beneath the 3,550-point plateau and it's expected to extend its gains on Tuesday.
The global forecast for the Asian is slightly positive, with economic optimism tempered by coronavirus concerns. The European and U.S. markets were slightly higher and the Asian bourses are tipped to follow that lead.
The SCI finished modestly higher on Monday following mixed performances from the financial shares, property stocks and resource companies.
For the day, the index improved 23.75 points or 0.67 percent to finish at 3,547.84 after trading between 3,527.39 and 3,565.03. The Shenzhen Composite Index spiked 48.30 points or 1.98 percent to end at 2,485.15.
Among the actives, Industrial and Commercial Bank of China skidded 1.65 percent, while Bank of China fell 0.33 percent, China Construction Bank retreated 1.54 percent, China Merchants Bank climbed 1.00 percent, Bank of Communications shed 0.62 percent, China Life Insurance declined 1.21 percent, Jiangxi Copper advanced 0.86 percent, Aluminum Corp of China (Chalco) plunged 2.05 percent, Yanzhou Coal tanked 2.59 percent, PetroChina surrendered 1.20 percent, China Petroleum and Chemical (Sinopec) sank 0.71 percent, China Shenhua Energy plummeted 3.03 percent, Gemdale added 0.50 percent, Poly Developments lost 1.31 percent, China Vanke slid 1.00 percent and China Minsheng Bank was unchanged.
The lead from Wall Street suggests mild upside as stocks shook off a mixed start on Monday and wound up with modest gains to fresh record closing highs.
The Dow climbed 126.02 points or 0.36 percent to finish at 34,996.18, while the NASDAQ added 31.32 points or 0.21 percent to end at 14,733.24 and the S&P 500 rose 15.08 points or 0.35 percent to close at 4,384.63.
The modestly higher close on Wall Street reflected recent upward momentum, which has helped propel stocks to record highs despite uncertainty about the global economic outlook.
Traders may also have been reluctant to make significant moves ahead of the start of earnings season, with several big-name companies due to report their quarterly results this week.
Crude oil futures closed lower Monday after two days of gains amid concerns about the outlook for energy demand due to the surge in the delta variant of the coronavirus. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for August ended down $0.46 or 0.6 percent at $74.10 a barrel.
Closer to home, China will release June figures for imports, exports and trade balance later this morning. Imports are expected to jump 30.0 percent on year after surging 51.1 percent in May. Exports are called higher by an annual 23.1 percent, slowing from 27.9 percent in the previous month. The trade surplus is pegged at $44.2 billion, down from $45.53 billion a month earlier.
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