The China stock market has tracked lower in back-to-back sessions, slumping almost 20 points or 0.7 percent along the way. The Shanghai Composite Index now sits just above the 2,835-point plateau and it may remain stuck in neutral again on Thursday.
The global forecast for the Asian markets is mixed and flat ahead of key inflation data. The European markets were mixed and the U.S. bourses were down and the Asian markets figure to split the difference.
The SCI finished modestly lower on Wednesday following losses from the financials, properties and oil companies.
For the day, the index sank 11.30 points or 0.40 percent to finish at 2,837.43 after trading between 2,830.96 and 2,852.56. The Shenzhen Composite Index perked 0.16 points or 0.01 percent to end at 1,493.59.
Among the actives, Industrial and Commercial Bank of China and China Life Insurance both shed 0.61 percent, while Bank of China dropped 0.97 percent, China Construction Bank retreated 1.20 percent, China Merchants Bank eased 0.06 percent, Agricultural Bank of China sank 0.80 percent, Jiangxi Copper tumbled 1.87 percent, Aluminum Corp of China (Chalco) lost 0.44 percent, Yankuang Energy rose 0.14 percent, PetroChina declined 1.50 percent, China Petroleum and Chemical (Sinopec) skidded 1.11 percent, Huaneng Power climbed 1.15 percent, China Shenhua Energy slumped 0.70 percent, Gemdale plunged 3.08 percent, Poly Developments surrendered 1.15 percent and China Vanke stumbled 1.43 percent.
The lead from Wall Street is negative as the major averages opened lower and mostly remained under water throughout the trading day.
The Dow dropped 159.08 points or 0.39 percent to finish at 41,091.42, while the NASDAQ sank 198.79 points or 1.12 percent to end at 17,556.03 and the S&P 500 lost 33.62 points or 0.60 percent to close at 5,592.18.
The weakness on Wall Street partly reflected anxiety ahead of the release of market leader Nvidias (NVDA) fiscal second quarter results after the close of trading.
After the markets closed, Nvidia showed a profit for its second quarter that increased from last year and beat estimates.
Stocks were also under pressure as traders looked ahead to Fridays Commerce Department report on personal income and spending in July, which includes readings on inflation said to be preferred by the Federal Reserve. While the data is not likely to affect optimism the Fed will lower rates next month, it could impact expectations for how quickly the central bank cuts rates.
Crude oil futures dropped Wednesday on concerns about the outlook for global oil demand, and on data showing a much smaller than expected drop in U.S. crude oil inventories last week. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for October sank $1.01 or 1.34 percent at $74.52 a barrel.