Steady Start Seen For China Stock Market

The China stock market headed south again on Thursday, one day after ending the three-day losing streak in which it had retreated more than 100 points or 3 percent. The Shanghai Composite Index now rests just above the 3,370-point plateau and it may see mild upside on Friday.

The global forecast for the Asian markets remains murky on concerns over the outlook for interest rates. The European markets were down and the U.S. bourses were mixed and flat, and the Asian markets are expected to follow the latter lead.

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

For the day, the index fell 12.17 points or 0.36 percent to finish at 3,370.03 after trading between 3,346.47 and 3,377.53. The Shenzhen Composite Index added 7.32 points or 0.36 percent to end at 2,032.85.

Among the actives, Industrial and Commercial Bank of China retreated 1.52 percent, while Bank of China dropped 0.95 percent, China Construction Bank sank 0.82 percent, China Merchants Bank declined 1.30 percent, Agricultural Bank of China skidded 1.18 percent, China Life Insurance collected 0.31 percent, Jiangxi Copper eased 0.10 percent, Aluminum Corp of China (Chalco) perked 0.14 percent, Yankuang Energy tumbled 1.72 percent, PetroChina slumped 1.06 percent, China Petroleum and Chemical (Sinopec) shed 0.77 percent, Huaneng Power surrendered 1.68 percent, China Shenhua Energy lost 1.05 percent, Gemdale stumbled 2.70 percent, Poly Developments was down 0.11 percent and China Vanke tanked 2.83 percent.

The lead from Wall Street offers little clarity as the major averages opened higher Thursday on bargain hunting but faded as the day progressed, finally ending mixed and little changed.

The Dow rose 15.37 points or 0.04 percent to finish at 42,342.24, while the NASDAQ dipped 19.93 points or 0.10 percent to close at 19,372.77 and the S&P 500 eased 5.08 points or 0.09 percent to end at 5,867.08.

The initial strength on Wall Street came as traders looked to pick up stocks at reduced levels after Wednesday’s steep losses, which saw the Dow tumble to its lowest closing level in over a month.

Wednesday’s sell-off came after the Federal Reserve announced its widely expected decision to lower interest rates by a quarter-point but forecast rate cuts fewer than expected next year.

Upbeat economic data supported for the Fed’s cautious approach to further rate cuts after the Commerce Department said GDP surged more than expected in Q3. Also, the Labor Department said first-time claims for U.S. jobless benefits pulled back more than expected last week.

Crude oil futures were down on Thursday, weighed down by a stronger dollar after the Federal Reserve signaled fewer interest rate cuts next year than had been expected. West Texas Intermediate crude oil futures for January closed down $0.67 or 0.95 percent at $69.91 a barrel.