The China stock market on Tuesday ended the two-day slide in which it had retreated almost 20 points or 0.6 percent. The Shanghai Composite Index now rests just above the 3,305-point plateau, although it may head south again on Wednesday.
The global forecast for the Asian markets is flat, with many traders away during the period between Christmas and New Year's - although support from crude oil prices may limit the downside. The European and U.S. markets were slightly lower and the Asian bourses figure to follow suit.
The SCI finished modestly higher on Tuesday following gains from the financial shares, property stocks and oil companies.
For the day, the index picked up 25.66 points or 0.78 percent to finish at 3,306.12 after trading between 3,274.33 and 3,307.30.
Among the actives, China Life climbed 1.09 percent, while Ping An Insurance shed 0.30 percent, Bank of China collected 0.77 percent, Industrial and Commercial Bank of China jumped 1.33 percent, Agricultural Bank of China spiked 2.17 percent, China Vanke added 0.43 percent, Gemdale soared 2.87 percent, PetroChina gained 0.37 percent, China Petroleum and Chemical (Sinopec) advanced 0.50 percent and Jiangxi Copper surged 3.85 percent.
The lead from Wall Street is mildly negative as stocks saw modest weakness on Tuesday after the long weekend, although the selling pressure was subdued.
The Dow shed 7.85 points or 0.03 percent to 24,746.21, while the NASDAQ fell 23.71 points or 0.34 percent to 6,936.25 and the S&P 500 dipped 2.84 points or 0.11 percent to 2,680.50.
A decline by shares of Apple (AAPL) weighed on the tech-heavy NASDAQ, with the tech giant slumping 2.5 percent. Overall activity was light as many traders were still away after Christmas.
Volume may remain light throughout the week, although some traders may look to do some window dressing going into the end of the year.
Crude oil futures surged to the highest in two years Tuesday, extending recent gains after a Libyan pipeline blast threatened supplies from the region. On a quiet day in the markets after the Christmas holiday, February oil was up $1.50 or 2.6 percent to $59.97/bbl, the highest since June 2015.
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