(RTTNews) – The China stock market has finished higher in five straight sessions, advancing more than 50 points or 1.5 percent along the way. The Shanghai Composite Index now sits just beneath the 3,400-point plateau although it’s expected to open to the downside on Tuesday.
The global forecast for the Asian markets is murky ahead of key upcoming talks between the United States and China. The European markets were down and the U.S. bourses were flat and the Asian markets figure to split the difference.
The SCI finished modestly higher on Monday following gains from the properties and mixed performances from the financials and resource stocks.
For the day, the index added 14.41 points or 0.43 percent to finish at 3,399.77 after trading between 3,383.07 and 3,402.05. The Shenzhen Composite Index advanced 18.61 points or 0.93 percent to end at 2,026.30.
Among the actives, Industrial and Commercial Bank of China slid 0.28 percent, while Bank of China fell 0.37 percent, China Merchants Bank collected 0.29 percent, Bank of Communications dipped 0.26 percent, China Life Insurance shed 0.62 percent, Jiangxi Copper lost 0.58 percent, Aluminum Corp of China (Chalco) strengthened 1.34 percent, China Petroleum and Chemical (Sinopec) was up 0.17 percent, Huaneng Power slumped 0.27 percent, China Shenhua Energy eased 0.10 percent, Gemdale perked 0.27 percent, China Vanke rose 0.30 percent and Poly Developments was unchanged.
The lead from Wall Street is pedestrian as the major averages opened lower on Monday, moved into the green by midday but faded going into the close to end mixed and little changed.
The Dow dipped 1.11 points or 0.00 percent to finish at 42,761.76, while the NASDAQ added 61.28 points or 0.31 percent to close are 19,591.24 and the S&P 500 perked 5.52 points or 0.09 percent to end at 6,005.88.
The choppy trading on Wall Street came as traders awaited any news of U.S.-China trade talks that in London later today that could help ease trade tensions between the two superpowers.
While most of the major sectors ended the day showing only modest moves, semiconductor stocks moved sharply higher on the day, driving the Philadelphia Semiconductor Index up by 2.0 percent to its best closing level in over three months.
Crude oil rose on Monday due to hopes sparked by US-China trade talks and that the nearing summer travel season may boost energy demand. West Texas Intermediate crude for July delivery settled at $65.29 per barrel, up 71 cents, the highest since April 3.
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