BEIJING: The China stock market on Monday snapped the two-day slide in which it had retreated almost 30 points or 1 percent. The Shanghai Composite Index now rests just above the 3,230-point plateau, although the market may head south again on Tuesday. The global forecast for the Asian markets is soft, thanks to concerns over the outlook for interest rates and a decline in the price of crude oil. The European and U.S. markets were down and the Asian bourses figure to follow suit.
The SCI finished modestly higher on Monday following gains from the telecoms and properties, while the financials and oil companies were mixed. Among the actives, Agricultural Bank of China added 0.31 percent, while Industrial and Commercial Bank of China dipped 0.22 percent, Vanke gained 0.10 percent, Gemdale picked up 0.59 percent, PetroChina gathered 0.25 percent, China Petroleum and Chemical (Sinopec) lost 0.35 percent, China Shenhua climbed 1.14 percent and China Unicom advanced 1.84 percent. The lead from Wall Street is negative as stocks opened lower on Monday and finished that way, largely thanks to profit taking. The Dow dipped 51.37 points or 0.2 percent to 20,954.34, while the NASDAQ slid 21.58 points or 0.4 percent to 5,849.18 and the S&P 500 fell 7.81 points or 0.3 percent to 2,375.31.
Concerns about an increase in interest rates at next week’s Federal Reserve meeting also weighed on the markets, with CME Group’s FedWatch tool indicating an 86.4 percent probability of a quarter-point rate hike. In economic news, the Commerce Department said that new orders for manufactured goods increased in line with expectations in January. Crude oil prices fell Monday as the U.S. dollar firmed. Demand concerns and expectations for increased oil supplies also dented oil prices. WTI light sweet crude oil fell 13 cents or 0.2 percent to $53.20/bbl on Nymex.
