The China stock market turned lower again on Wednesday, one day after snapping the three-day losing streak in which it had dropped more than 50 points or 1.7 percent. The Shanghai Composite Index now rests just above the 2,990-point plateau although it figures to rebound again on Thursday.
The global forecast for the Asian markets is upbeat on continued optimism over the outlook for interest rates. The European and U.S. markets were up and the Asian bourses figure to follow suit.
The SCI finished sharply lower on Wednesday following losses from the resource and property stocks, while the financials provided support.
For the day, the index shed 38.34 points or 1.26 percent to finish at the daily low of 2,993.14 after moving as high as 3,030.45. The Shenzhen Composite Index tumbled 49.04 points or 2.80 percent to end at 1,703.25.
Among the actives, Industrial and Commercial Bank of China added 0.56 percent, while Bank of China gained 1.13 percent, China Construction Bank collected 0.14 percent, China Merchants Bank fell 0.31 percent, Bank of Communications climbed 1.26 percent, China Life Insurance tumbled 1.78 percent, Jiangxi Copper retreated 1.21 percent, Aluminum Corp of China (Chalco) declined 1.11 percent, Yankuang Energy dropped 1.03 percent, PetroChina shed 0.43 percent, China Petroleum and Chemical (Sinopec) rose 0.32 percent, Huaneng Power skidded 1.08 percent, China Shenhua Energy rallied 2.13 percent, Gemdale plummeted 4.47 percent, Poly Developments plunged 2.78 percent and China Vanke tanked 2.64 percent.
The lead from Wall Street is positive as the major averages opened higher on Wednesday and largely stayed that way throughout the session.
The Dow surged 477.75 points or 1.22 percent to finish at 39,760.08, while the NASDAQ rallied 83.82 points or 0.51 percent to close at 16,399.52 and the S&P 500 gained 44.91 points or 0.86 percent to end at 5,248.49.
The strength on Wall Street came as traders again looked to pick up stocks at reduced levels after the previous day\'s mediocre performance.
A decrease by treasury yields also contributed to the strength in the markets amid ongoing optimism about the outlook for interest rates following the Federal Reserve\'s monetary policy announcement last week. While the Fed left interest rates unchanged, as expected, officials kept their forecast for three rate cuts this year.
Crude oil prices dropped on Wednesday after data showed an unexpected increase in U.S. crude and gasoline inventories last week. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for May ended lower by $0.27 or 0.33 percent at $81.35 a barrel.
The markets are closed on Good Friday.