Higher Open Predicted For China Stock Market

Ahead of the long weekend holiday for the Mid-Autumn Festival, the China stock market had ended the three-day losing streak in which it had fallen almost 110 points or 3 percent. The Shanghai Composite Index now rests just above the 3,610-point plateau and it may add to its winnings on Wednesday.

The global forecast for the Asian markets is mixed to higher ahead of the Federal Reserve’s monetary policy announcement later today. The European markets were up and the U.S. bourses were mixed and the Asian markets figure to split the difference.

The SCI finished slightly higher on Friday following mixed performances from the financials, properties and energy companies.

For the day, the index rose 6.87 points or 0.19 percent to finish at 3,613.97 after trading between 3,569.27 and 3,620.96. The Shenzhen Composite Index gained 6.50 points or 0.35 percent to end at 2,446.05.

Among the actives, Industrial and Commercial Bank of China collected 0.43 percent, while Bank of China added 0.66 percent, China Construction Bank rose 0.33 percent, China Merchants Bank climbed 1.08 percent, Bank of Communications fell 0.22 percent, China Life Insurance eased 0.10 percent, Jiangxi Copper plunged 3.31 percent, Aluminum Corp of China (Chalco) lost 0.31 percent, Yanzhou Coal plummeted 9.95 percent, PetroChina tanked 2.06 percent, Huaneng Power surged 5.89 percent, China Shenhua Energy cratered 6.65 percent, Gemdale soared 4.29 percent, Poly Developments spiked 5.62 percent, China Vanke rose 0.26 percent and China Petroleum and Chemical (Sinopec) was unchanged.

The lead from Wall Street offers little clarity as the major averages opened firmly higher on Tuesday but quickly turned lower, bouncing back and forth across the unchanged line before finishing mixed.

The Dow shed 50.63 points or 0.15 percent to finish at 33,919.84, while the NASDAQ added 32.49 points or 0.22 percent to close at 14,746 and the S&P 500 fell 3.54 points or 0.08 percent to end at 4,354.19.

The choppy trade on Wall Street came ahead of the Fed’s announcement. The Fed is widely expected to leave monetary policy unchanged but could address the outlook for its asset purchase program.

In economic news, the Commerce Department said new residential construction in the U.S. increased more than expected in August.

Crude oil prices moved higher Tuesday, ahead of weekly U.S. crude inventories data. But gains were just modest as traders weighed global energy demand prospects amid the surge in coronavirus cases in the U.S. and several other countries. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for October settled at $70.56 a barrel on the expiration day, gaining $0.27 or 0.4 percent in the session.

Closer to home, China will provide updated prime rates for its one-year and five-year loans later today; previously, they were 3.85 percent and 4.65 percent, respectively.