The China stock market on Friday ended the four-day winning streak in which it had gathered more than 75 points or 2.3 percent. The Shanghai Composite Index now rests just beneath the 3,270-point plateau, although the market may see a mild recovery on Tuesday.
The global forecast for the Asian markets is fairly rudderless, with geopolitical concerns tempered by the resulting spike in crude oil prices. The European markets were slightly lower and the U.S. bourses were barely higher - and the Asian markets also figure to be flat.
The SCI finished modestly lower on Monday following losses from the financials, while the properties and resource stocks came in mixed.
For the day, the index lost 17.22 points or 0.52 percent to finish at 3,269.39 after trading between 3,265.01 and 3,285.46. The Shenzhen Composite Index lost 19.83 points or 0.98 percent to end at 2,008.50.
Among the actives, Agricultural Bank of China shed 0.60 percent, while Bank of China lost 0.27 percent, Industrial and Commercial Bank of China fell 0.62 percent, Vanke slipped 0.96 percent, Gemdale jumped 1.51 percent, China Unicom and PetroChina were unchanged, China Shenhua spiked 1.66 percent and Zijin Mining tumbled 1.40 percent.
The lead from Wall Street suggests very mild upside as stocks spent Monday bouncing back and forth across the unchanged line before closing barely higher.
The Dow added 0.84 points or 0.1 percent, while the NASDAQ was up 3.11 points or 0.1 percent to 5,880.93, and the S&P 500 ticked up 1.61 points or 0.1 percent to 2,357.17.
Traders kept an eye on geopolitical events following the U.S. strike on a Syrian airbase in retaliation for a chemical weapons attack on civilians.
The price of crude oil showed a solid upward move on Monday amid the rising geopolitical tensions. Crude for May delivery climbed $0.84 to $53.08 a barrel for its best closing level in over a month.
While an increase by the price of crude oil generated early buying interest, traders quickly cashed in on those gains.
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