The China stock market on Wednesday snapped the three-day winning streak in which it had advanced almost 25 points or 0.8 percent. The Shanghai Composite Index now rests just above the 3,200-point plateau and the losses may accelerate on Thursday.
The global forecast for the Asian is cautious as the debt ceiling situation looks to enter the home stretch. The European and U.S. markets were down and the Asian bourses figure to open in similar fashion.
The SCI finished modestly lower on Wednesday following losses from the financial shares, property stocks and resource companies.
For the day, the index sank 19.65 points or 0.61 percent to finish at 3,204.56 after trading between 3,190.27 and 3,216.36.
Among the actives, Industrial and Commercial Bank of China rose 0.21 percent, while Bank of China sank 0.76 percent, China Construction Bank dropped 0.93 percent, China Merchants Bank skidded 1.04 percent, Bank of Communications shed 0.51 percent, China Life Insurance tumbled 1.87 percent, Jiangxi Copper perked 0.05 percent, Aluminum Corp of China (Chalco) slumped 0.92 percent, Yankuang Energy plummeted 9.23 percent, PetroChina tanked 2.22 percent, China Petroleum and Chemical (Sinopec) declined 1.40 percent, Huaneng Power lost 0.59 percent, China Shenhua Energy plunged 3.22 percent, Gemdale retreated 1.36 percent, Poly Developments stumbled 1.62 percent, China Vanke lost 0.84 percent, China Fortune Land surrendered 0.88 percent and Beijing Capital Development eased 0.25 percent.
The lead from Wall Street is weak as the major averages opened solidly lower on Wednesday, making back some of the ground as the day progressed but still ending firmly in the red.
The Dow dropped 134.51 points or 0.41 percent to finish at 32,908.27, while the NASDAQ shed 82.14 points or 0.63 percent to close at 12,935.29 and the S&P 500 slumped 25.69 points or 0.61 percent to end at 4,179.83.
The weakness on Wall Street came as traders kept a close eye on developments regarding the bill to raise the U.S. debt ceiling and avoid potentially disastrous default. The debt bill, which advanced out of the House Rules Committee on Tuesday, is set to be voted on in the House any time now.
In economic news, the Labor Department said that job openings rose to 10.1 million in April from a revised 9.7 million in March. Economists had expected job openings to fall to 9.4 million.
Crude oil prices fell sharply on Wednesday as worries about fuel demand resurfaced, while a stronger dollar also weighed on oil prices. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for July slumped $1.37 or 2 percent at $68.09 a barrel.
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