The China stock market has finished higher in two of three trading days since the end of the two-day losing streak in which it had retreated more than 45 points or 1.5 percent. The Shanghai Composite Index finished just above the 2,850-point plateau, and now the market draws a mixed to flat lead for the opening of trade on Wednesday.
The global forecast for the Asian markets calls for mild consolidation on lingering debt concerns in Europe. Properties and technology stocks figure to see continued pressure, with gold and financial shares rising on bargain hunting. The European and U.S. markets finished lower on Tuesday, and the Asian bourses are also expected to track to the downside.
The SCI finished barely higher on Tuesday as bargain hunting among the coal miners was offset by selling pressure among the property stocks.
For the day, the index added 3.70 points or 0.1 percent to finish at 2,852.77 after trading between 2,821.20 and 2,869.23. The Shenzhen Composite Index eased 1.68 points or 0.1 percent to end at 1,197.04.
Among the actives, Yanzhou Coal Mining jumped 5.6 percent and China Shenhua Energy added 2.3 percent, while Rongan Property plunged 5.1 percent and Beijing North Star lost 2.0 percent.
The lead from Wall Street remains negative as stocks ended Tuesday's trading little changed after showing a notable move to the downside in morning trading. While the Dow closed firmly in negative territory amid a steep drop by Hewlett-Packard (HPQ), the broader NASDAQ and S&P 500 closed nearly flat.
Shares of Hewlett-Packard saw considerable weakness on the day after the computer and printer maker reported better than expected quarterly results but provided disappointing guidance. HP reported second quarter adjusted earnings of $1.24 per share on sales of $31.63 billion, while analysts had expected the company to earn $1.21 per share on sales of $31.54 billion.
The early weakness was also partly due to the release of some disappointing economic data, including a report from the Commerce Department showing an unexpected decrease in housing starts in April. The Commerce Department said housing starts fell 10.6 percent to an annual rate of 523,000 in April from the revised March estimate of 585,000. The drop came as a surprise to economists, who had expected starts to rise to 570,000 from the 549,000 originally reported for the previous month.
A separate report from the Federal Reserve showed that industrial production came in unchanged in April, as a drop in manufacturing production offset increases in the output of mines and utilities.
Meanwhile, shares of Home Depot (HD) moved to the upside after the home improvement retailer reported first quarter earnings of $0.50 per share, a penny above the consensus estimate. While maintaining its 2011 sales growth guidance of about 2.5 percent, Home Depot also raised its earnings guidance for the year to $2.24 per share.
In other earnings news, retail giant Wal-Mart (WMT) reported first quarter earnings from continuing operations of $0.98 per share on net sales of $103.4 billion. Analysts had expected the company to earn $0.95 per share on sales of $102.76 billion. For the second quarter, Wal-Mart said it expects earnings from continuing operations of $1.05 to $1.10 per share, surrounding the consensus estimate of $1.08 per share.
The Dow closed lower for the third straight session, falling by 68.95 points or 0.6 percent to 12,479.42, its lowest closing level in nearly a month. The S&P 500 edged down 0.49 points or less than tenth of a percent to 1,328.98, while the NASDAQ inched up 0.90 points or less than a tenth of a percent to 2,783.21.
In economic news, foreign direct investment in China increased 15.21 percent year-on-year to $8.46 billion in April, the Ministry of Commerce said on Tuesday. However, this was weaker than the 32.9 percent growth recorded in March and 36.1 percent increase expected by economists. During the first four months of the year, FDI climbed 26.03 percent over the same period last year to $38.8 billion. In 2010, FDI in China totaled $105.74 billion, up 17.4 percent on an annual comparison.
In corporate news, China Precision Steel on Tuesday reported third quarter net loss of $872 thousand or $0.02 per share, compared to net income of $2.0 million or $0.04 per share in the prior year. Revenue for the quarter was $31.5 million, up 5.0 percent from $30.0 million a year earlier. Operating loss for the quarter was $296,155, compared to operating income of $2.5 million in the same period a year ago.
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May 08, 2026 15:50 ET Manufacturing and services sector survey results and labor market data from main economies were the highlight on the economics news front this week. Factory orders and jobs report dominated the news flow in the U.S. Similarly, industrial production data from German garnered attention in Europe. In Asia, purchasing managers’ survey results from China and the central bank decision from Australia were in focus.