China Shares May Bounce Higher Again On Wednesday

(RTTNews) - The China stock market on Tuesday ended the two-day winning streak in which it had jumped more than 60 points or 1.6 percent. The Shanghai Composite Index now sits just above the 3,800-point plateau although it may find renewed support on Wednesday.

The global forecast for the Asian markets suggests mild upside on growing optimism about the outlook for interest rates. The European markets were mixed and the U.S. bourses were up and the Asian markets figure to split the difference.

The SCI finished modestly lower on Tuesday as losses from the oil companies were offset by support from the financial shares and property stocks.

For the day, the index sank 19.55 points or 0.51 percent to finish at 3,807.29 after trading between 3,791.72 and 3,834.67. The Shenzhen Composite Index slumped 26.84 points or 1.11 percent to end at 2,400.55.

Among the actives, Industrial and Commercial Bank of China rose 0.41 percent, Bank of China was up 0.18 percent, Agricultural Bank of China improved 0.69 percent, China Merchants Bank advanced 0.94 percent, Bank of Communications collected 0.14 percent, China Life Insurance perked 0.08 percent, Jiangxi Copper gained 0.46 percent, Aluminum Corp of China (Chalco) added 0.52 percent, Yankuang Energy eased 0.15 percent, PetroChina skidded 1.12 percent, China Petroleum and Chemical (Sinopec) fell 0.35 percent, Huaneng Power increased 0.26 percent, China Shenhua Energy rose 0.24 percent, Gemdale rallied 2.46 percent, Poly Developments jumped 1.55 percent and China Vanke strengthened 1.48 percent.

The lead from Wall Street is positive as the major averages shook off early weakness on Tuesday and trended generally higher to finish at record closing highs.

The Dow climbed 196.39 points or 0.43 percent to finish at 45,711.34, while the NASDAQ improved 80.79 points or 0.37 percent to close at 21,193.11 and the S&P 500 gained 17.46 points or 0.27 percent to end at 6,512.61.

The strength on Wall Street reflected ongoing optimism about the outlook for interest rates ahead of closely watched inflation data in the coming days. The Labor Department is scheduled to release reports on producer price inflation and consumer price inflation today and tomorrow, respectively.

While last Friday's weaker-than-expected jobs data increased confidence that the Fed will cut interest rates at its meeting next week, the inflation data could influence how aggressively the central bank lowers rates.

In U.S. economic news, the Labor Department said non-farm employment for the 12 months through March 2025 was downwardly revised by 911,000 jobs, also fueling optimism for a rate cut.

Crude oil advanced on Tuesday, extending gains for the second day amid increasing expectations of western sanctions against Russia, while the Israeli attack on Qatar added support to oil prices. West Texas Intermediate crude for October delivery was up $0.29 or 0.47 percent at $62.55 per barrel.

Closer to home, China will release August figures for consumer and producer prices later this morning. Overall inflation is expected to slip 0.2 percent on year following the flat reading in July, while producer prices are seen lower buy an annual 2.6 percent after slumping 3.6 percent a month earlier.