The China stock market headed south again on Monday, one session after ending the three-day losing streak in which it had stumbled more than 90 points or 2.5 percent. The Shanghai Composite Index now rests just beneath the 3,545-point plateau although it's expected to bounce higher again on Tuesday.
The global forecast for the Asian markets is positive ahead of Wednesday's policy announcement from the Federal Reserve and on support from crude oil prices. The European and U.S. markets were up and the Asian bourses are tipped to open in similar fashion.
The SCI finished barely lower on Monday following losses from the properties, support from the financials and mixed performances from the energy and resource stocks.
For the day, the index eased 2.86 points or 0.08 percent to finish at 3,544.48 after trading between 3,519.29 and 3,556.59. The Shenzhen Composite Index gained 11.75 points or 0.49 percent to end at 2,411.78.
Among the actives, Industrial and Commercial Bank of China climbed 1.28 percent, while Bank of China collected 0.66 percent, China Construction Bank advanced 1.01 percent, China Merchants Bank rose 0.28 percent, Bank of Communications soared 3.76 percent, China Life Insurance eased 0.03 percent, Jiangxi Copper added 0.43 percent, Aluminum Corp of China (Chalco) sank 0.81 percent, Yanzhou Coal improved 1.11 percent, PetroChina tumbled 1.82 percent, China Petroleum and Chemical (Sinopec) declined 0.71 percent, Huaneng Power plunged 3.76 percent, China Shenhua Energy gathered 1.01 percent, Gemdale plummeted 3.74 percent, Poly Developments tanked 2.47 percent, China Vanke lost 0.82 percent and Beijing Capital Development cratered 3.26 percent.
The lead from Wall Street is upbeat as the major averages opened higher on Monday and remained mostly in the green throughout the session, finishing with modest gains and at record closing highs.
The Dow climbed 94.28 points or 0.26 percent to finish at 35,913.84, while the NASDAQ jumped 97.53 points or 063 percent to close at 15,595.92 and the S&P 500 rose 8.29 points or 0.18 percent to end at 4,613.67.
The choppy trading on Wall Street came as traders looked ahead to Wednesday' announcement from the Fed. The central bank is expected to leave interest rates unchanged but could announce plans to begin scaling back its asset purchase program.
A batch of upbeat earnings news has also contributed to a recent upward trend, as most major companies have reported better than expected quarterly results.
In economic news, the Institute for Supply Management noted a modest slowdown in the pace of growth in U.S. manufacturing activity in October. Also, the Commerce Department said construction spending in the U.S. unexpectedly decreased in September.
Crude oil prices moved higher on Monday with traders weighing energy demand and supply levels and looking ahead to the upcoming OPEC meeting. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for December ended higher by $0.48 or 0.6 percent at $84.05 a barrel.
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