Higher Open Anticipated For China Stock Market

The China stock market has alternated between positive and negative finishes through the last four trading days since the end of the two-day slide in which it had slumped more than 70 points or 2.3 percent. The Shanghai Composite Index now sits just beneath the 3,100-point plateau and it’s tipped to open in the green again on Tuesday.

The global forecast for the Asian markets is upbeat on an improved outlook for the economy and the outlook for interest rates. The European and U.S. markets were up and the Asian bourses are expected to open in similar fashion.

The SCI finished sharply higher on Monday following gains from the financial shares, property stocks and resource companies.

For the day, the index climbed 34.56 points or 1.13 percent to finish at 3,098.64 after trading between 3,089.12 and 3,219.04.

Among the actives, Industrial and Commercial Bank of China improved 1.50 percent, while Bank of China collected 1.32 percent, China Construction Bank strengthened 1.66 percent, China Merchants Bank spiked 2.22 percent, Bank of Communications advanced 0.90 percent, China Life Insurance gathered 1.57 percent, Gemdale skyrocketed 6.56 percent, Poly Developments rallied 2.72 percent, China Vanke soared 4.54 percent, Jiangxi Copper jumped 1.23 percent, Aluminum Corporation of China (Chalco) gained 2.06 percent, Yankuang Energy accelerated 4.95 percent, Huaneng Power plunged 3.86 percent, China Petroleum & Chemical (Sinopec) rose 0.65 percent, PetroChina was up 1.56 percent and China Shenhua Energy perked 2.19 percent.

The lead from Wall Street is positive as the major averages opened higher on Monday, ebbed and flowed throughout the session but still ended solidly in positive territory.

The Dow jumped 213.08 points or 0.62 percent to finish at 34,559.98, while the NASDAQ spiked 114.48 points or 0.84 percent to close at 13,705.13 and the S&P 500 rallied 27.60 points or 0.63 percent to end at 4,433.31.

The higher open came after China put forth stimulus to ease market unrest and drive economic growth. Chinese authorities announced a slew of measures over the weekend to bolster the country’s equity markets and fuel an increase in spending. The measures included a 50 percent reduction in stamp duty on stock trades and a slower pace of initial public offerings.

The markets also saw continued momentum after Fed Chair Jerome Powell expressed confidence in continued economic growth last week at Jackson Hole and reiterated the central bank’s commitment to pull inflation back to the 2 percent target.

Crude oil prices edged higher on Monday on optimism that energy operations in the Gulf Coast of Florida may be affected by severe weather conditions this week. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for October ended higher by $0.27 or 0.3 percent at $80.10 a barrel.

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