China Stock Market See Find Traction On Thursday

The China stock market has moved lower in four straight sessions, plummeting more than 210 points or 6.1 percent in that span. The Shanghai Composite Index now rests just above the 3,360-point plateau and it’s due for support on Thursday.

The global forecast for the Asian markets is mixed to higher, with support from oil and technology stocks offset by ongoing Covid-19 concerns. The European markets were up and the U.S. bourses were mixed and the Asian markets figure to split the difference.

The SCI finished modestly lower on Wednesday following losses from the resource stocks, support from the financials and a mixed picture from the properties.

For the day, the index lost 19.59 points or 0.58 percent to finish at 3,361.59 after trading between 3,312.72 and 3,385.54. The Shenzhen Composite Index fell 18.23 points or 0.78 percent to end at 2,313.20.

Among the actives, Industrial and Commercial Bank of China climbed 1.08 percent, while China Construction Bank jumped 1.38 percent, China Merchants Bank rallied 2.82 percent, China Life Insurance collected 0.21 percent, Jiangxi Copper plummeted 5.28 percent, Aluminum Corp of China (Chalco) plunged 3.89 percent, Yanzhou Coal spiked 2.23 percent, PetroChina retreated 1.06 percent, China Petroleum and Chemical (Sinopec) dropped 1.00 percent, China Shenhua Energy dropped 0.88 percent, Gemdale sank 0.94 percent, Poly Developments added 0.40 percent, China Vanke accelerated 1.64 percent, China Fortune Land tanked 3.85 percent and Bank of China and Bank of Communications were unchanged.

The lead from Wall Street is schizophrenic as the major averages opened slightly higher on Wednesday before the NASDAQ moved higher, the Dow moved lower and the S&P straddled the line.

The Dow dropped 127.59 points or 0.36 percent to finish at 34,930.93, while the NASDAQ climbed 102.01 points or 0.70 percent to end at 14,762.58 and the S&P 500 eased 0.82 points or 0.02 percent to close at 4,400.64.

The mixed picture on Wall Street came as technology stocks advanced, riding on strong results from Apple Inc, Alphabet and Microsoft.

The Federal Open Market Committee, which concluded its two-day monetary policy meeting Wednesday afternoon, left the target range for its federal funds rate unchanged at 0 to 0.25 percent as expected, and said it will continue with its $120 billion-a-month bond-buying program.

The bank, which said the economy is strengthening despite concerns over the spread of the coronavirus, added that risks to the economic outlook remain.

Crude oil prices moved higher Wednesday, lifted by data showing a larger-than-expected drop in U.S. crude inventories last week. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for September ended up $0.74 or 1 percent at $72.39 a barrel.

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