Overbought China Stock Market Nonetheless Called Higher On Friday

The China stock market has moved higher in seven straight sessions, surging more than 290 points or 10.3 percent along the way. The Shanghai Composite Index now rests just beneath the 2,990-point plateau and it has a positive lead again for Friday’s trade.

The global forecast for the Asian markets is positive, with technology and energy stocks expected to lead the markets higher. The European and U.S. markets were up and the Asian bourses are expected to open in similar fashion.

The SCI finished sharply higher again on Thursday following gains from the resource and energy companies, while the financials were mixed and the properties were soft.

For the day, the index accelerated 37.40 points or 1.27 percent to finish at the daily high of 2,988.36 after trading as low as 2,944.50. The Shenzhen Composite Index jumped 21.08 points or 1.29 percent to end at 1,650.10.

Among the actives, Industrial and Commercial Bank of China perked 0.18 percent, while China Construction Bank eased 0.14 percent, China Merchants Bank shed 0.61 percent, Bank of Communications dipped 0.16 percent, China Life Insurance collected 0.51 percent, Jiangxi Copper soared 2.94 percent, Aluminum Corp of China (Chalco) climbed 1.16 percent, Yankuang Energy skyrocketed 6.57 percent, PetroChina surged 5.74 percent, China Petroleum and Chemical (Sinopec) accelerated 2.72 percent, Huaneng Power jumped 1.93 percent, China Shenhua Energy rallied 3.16 percent, Gemdale lost 0.47 percent, Poly Developments dropped 0.99 percent, China Vanke sank 0.59 percent and Bank of China was unchanged.

The lead from Wall Street is strong as the major averages opened higher and continued to climb as the day progressed, ending near session highs.

The Dow surged 456.87 points or 1.18 percent to finish at 39,069.11, while the NASDAQ soared 460.72 points or 2.96 percent to end at 16,041.62 and the S&P 500 rallied 105.23 points or 2.11 percent to close at 5,087.03.

The rally on Wall Street largely reflected a positive reaction to earnings news from Nvidia (NVDA), with the chipmaker spiking by 16.4 percent to a record closing high.

In U.S. economic news, the Labor Department reported an unexpected dip in first-time claims for U.S. unemployment benefits last week. Also, the National Association of Realtors noted a big rebound in existing home sales in January.

Crude oil prices climbed higher on Thursday as rising tensions in the Middle East raised the possibility of a near-term supply disruption. West Texas Intermediate crude oil futures for April added $0.70 or 0.9 percent at $78.61 a barrel.