China Stock Market May Take Further Damage On Thursday

The China stock market on Wednesday ended the two-day winning streak in which it had jumped more than 80 points or 2.6 percent. The Shanghai Composite Index now sits just above the 3,290-point plateau although it’s predicted to open under pressure again on Thursday.

The global forecast for the Asian markets is soft on continuing anxiety over the outlook for interest rates and tumbling oil prices. The European and U.S. markets were mixed and little changed and the Asian bourses figure to open under pressure.

The SCI finished modestly lower on Wednesday following losses from the financial shares, property stocks and resource companies.

For the day, the index shed 15.38 points or 0.47 percent to finish at 3,291.15 after trading between 3,286.72 and 3,307.03. The Shenzhen Composite Index dipped 6.95 points or 0.27 percent to end at 2,159.82.

Among the actives, Industrial and Commercial Bank of China shed 0.46 percent, while Bank of China slid 0.31 percent, China Construction Bank fell 0.35 percent, China Merchants Bank retreated 1.37 percent, Bank of Communications lost 0.41 percent, China Life Insurance sank 0.83 percent, Jiangxi Copper dropped 0.94 percent, Aluminum Corp of China (Chalco) declined 1.57 percent, Yankuang Energy added 0.47 percent, PetroChina eased 0.38 percent, China Petroleum and Chemical (Sinopec) skidded 0.85 percent, Huaneng Power was down 0.51 percent, China Shenhua Energy dipped 0.11 percent, Gemdale slumped 1.01 percent, Poly Developments weakened 1.04 percent and China Vanke surrendered 1.13 percent.

The lead from Wall Street offers little guidance as the major averages opened higher on Wednesday but faded late, allowing only the NASDAQ to finish in the green.

The Dow shed 84.50 points or 0.26 percent to finish at 33,045.09, while the NASDAQ rose 14.77 points or 0.13 percent to close at 11,507.07 and the S&P 500 dipped 6.29 points or 0.16 percent to end at 3,991.05.

The mixed close on Wall Street followed the release of the minutes of the Federal Reserve’s most recent monetary policy meeting. The minutes revealed a “few participants” favored raising rates by 50 basis points versus the 25 basis point rate hike that was ultimately announced.

The minutes noted all participants continued to anticipate that ongoing rate increases would be appropriate to achieve the Fed’s dual goals of maximum employment and inflation at the rate of 2 percent over the longer run.

Crude oil prices tumbled on Wednesday, extending their losing streak to six consecutive sessions on concerns about the outlook for global demand. West Texas Intermediate crude for April delivery plunged $2.41 or 3.1 percent to $73.95 a barrel on its first day as the front month contract.