The China stock market has finished higher in three straight sessions, advancing more than 40 points or 1.2 percent along the way. The Shanghai Composite Index now sits just above the 3,565-point plateau although investors may cash in on Thursday.
The global forecast for the Asian markets is mixed and flat amidst a lack of strong catalysts. The European markets were down and the U.S. bourses were mixed and the Asian markets figure to split the difference.
The SCI finished slightly higher on Wednesday following big gains from the resource stocks, weakness from the financials and a mixed picture from the property sector.
For the day, the index rose 8.81 points or 0.25 percent to finish at 3,566.22 after trading between 3,549.85 and 3,577.47. The Shenzhen Composite Index gained 18.68 points or 0.78 percent to end at 2,427.09.
Among the actives, Industrial and Commercial Bank of China shed 0.39 percent, while China Construction Bank sank 0.75 percent, China Merchants Bank skidded 1.15 percent, Bank of Communications collected 0.21 percent, China Life Insurance lost 0.65 percent, Jiangxi Copper advanced 0.80 percent, Aluminum Corp of China (Chalco) surged 5.94 percent, Yanzhou Coal skyrocketed 7.31 percent, China Petroleum and Chemical (Sinopec) rose 0.23 percent, Baoshan Iron soared 4.76 percent, Gemdale climbed 1.28 percent, Poly Developments perked 0.98 percent, China Vanke jumped 1.11 percent, China Fortune Land dipped 0.19 percent, Beijing Capital Development eased 0.18 percent and Bank of China, PetroChina and China United Network Communications were unchanged.
The lead from Wall Street offers little guidance as the major averages opened mixed on Wednesday and hugged the unchanged line throughout the session, finally finishing that way.
The Dow shed 71.34 points or 0.21 percent to finish at 33,874.24, while the NASDAQ added 18.46 points or 0.13 percent to end at 14,271.73 and the S&P 500 dipped 4.60 points or 0.11 percent to close at 4,241.84.
The lackluster performance on Wall Street came as traders seemed reluctant to make significant moves amid uncertainty about the near-term outlook for the markets following recent volatility.
Recent comments from Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell have eased some concerns about the outlook for monetary policy that weighed on the markets last week; Powell downplayed the risk of inflation and stressed the central bank would not raise rates preemptively.
In economic news, the Commerce Department unexpectedly showed another steep drop in new home sales in the U.S. in May.
Oil prices rose on Wednesday after data showed a larger than expected decline in U.S. crude inventories last week. However, the possibility of increased output from major oil producers limited oil’s surge. West Texas Intermediate crude oil futures for August ended up $0.23 or 0.3 percent at $73.08 a barrel.
Market Analysis
China Stock Market Due For Consolidation On Thursday
2021-06-24 01:00:54
