The China stock market headed south again on Monday, one session after it had ended the two-day slide in which it had fallen more than 60 points or 2.4 percent. The Shanghai Composite Index now rests just above the 2,600-point plateau although it's looking at a firm lead for Tuesday.
The global forecast for the Asian markets is cautiously optimistic, with bargain hunting expected after heavy selling in recent sessions. The European markets were down and the U.S. bourse rebounded to end higher - and the Asian markets figure to follow the latter lead.
The SCI finished modestly lower on Monday as losses from the financial shares and property stocks were mitigated by support from the oil companies.
For the day, the index dipped 21.31 points or 0.82 percent to finish at 2,584.58 after trading between 2,576.24 and 2,599.76. The Shenzhen Composite Index shed 18.17 points or 1.35 percent to end at 1,332.53.
Among the actives, Gemdale plunged 1.65 percent, while Poly Developments plummeted 1.89 percent, China Vanke retreated 1.34 percent, Industrial and Commercial Bank of China shed 0.37 percent, China Merchants Bank gave away 0.84 percent, Bank of China lost 0.83 percent, China Construction Bank dropped 1.06 percent, China Life Insurance skidded 1.16 percent, Ping An Insurance tumbled 1.30 percent, PetroChina added 0.66 percent, China Petroleum and Chemical (Sinopec) climbed 1.02 percent and China Shenhua Energy was unchanged.
The lead from Wall Street suggests mild upside as stocks shrugged off a sharply lower open on Monday, rebounding finish in the green.
The Dow added 34.31 points or 0.14 percent to 24,423.26, while the NASDAQ added 51.27 points or 0.74 percent to 7,020.52 and the S&P was up 4.64 points or 0.18 percent to 2,637.72.
The turnaround on Wall Street came as traders went bargain hunting after the early weakness extended the sell-off seen last week. The Dow and the S&P 500 rebounded after hitting their lowest intraday levels in months.
The early weakness reflected lingering concerns about the global economic outlook along with skepticism about the potential for a long-term trade deal between the U.S. and China.
Traders may also be reluctant to make significant moves ahead of next week's Federal Reserve monetary policy meeting. The Fed is expected to raise interest rates by another quarter point, and traders will scrutinize the accompanying statement for clues about future rate hikes.
Also, substantial weakness remained visible among energy stocks, which moved lower along with the price of crude oil. Crude for January delivery tumbled $1.61 to $51 a barrel.
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