China Stock Market Tipped To Open In The Green

The China stock market has moved higher in two of three sessions since the end of the two-day slide in which it retreated almost 35 points or 1.9 percent. The Shanghai Composite Index now rests just above the 3,450-point plateau and it may add to its winnings on Monday.

The global forecast calls for volatility amidst the ongoing and very fluid Russian invasion of Ukraine, resulting sanctions and threats of nuclear deployment. The European and U.S. markets were sharply higher on Friday and the Asian bourses are tipped to at least open higher on Monday.

The SCI finished modestly higher on Friday following gains from the resource stocks, weakness from the financials and properties and a mixed picture from the energy producers.

For the day, the index improved 21.45 points or 0.63 percent to finish at 3,451.41 after trading between 3,440.93 and 3,480.18. The Shenzhen Composite Index rallied 27.62 points or 1.21 percent to end at 2,310.07.

Among the actives, Industrial and Commercial Bank of China shed 0.64 percent, while China Construction Bank dropped 0.83 percent, China Merchants Bank lost 0.42 percent, Bank of Communications fell 0.62 percent, China Life Insurance eased 0.03 percent, Jiangxi Copper advanced 0.98 percent, Aluminum Corp of China (Chalco) climbed 1.12 percent, Yankuang Energy retreated 1.54 percent, PetroChina plunged 3.05 percent, China Petroleum and Chemical (Sinopec) tanked 2.05 percent, Huaneng Power skyrocketed 10.01 percent, China Shenhua Energy plummeted 3.65 percent, Gemdale declined 1.55 percent, Poly Developments skidded 1.00 percent, China Vanke slumped 1.56 percent, Beijing Capital Development surrendered 1.27 percent and Bank of China and China Minsheng Bank were unchanged.

The lead from Wall Street is broadly positive as the major averages shook off a subdued open on Friday and accelerated as the day progressed, finishing near session highs.

The Dow surged 834.95 points or 2.51 percent to finish at 34,058.75, while the NASDAQ soared 221.02 points or 1.64 percent to end at 13,694.62 and the S&P 500 jumped 95.95 points or 2.24 percent to close at 4,384.65. For the week, the Dow eased 0.1 percent, the NASDAQ gained 1.1 percent and the S&P rose 0.8 percent.

The rally on Wall Street came as traders continued to pick up stocks at reduced levels following the sell-off in recent sessions on concerns about the Russian invasion of Ukraine.

The response over the weekend saw an increasing wave of sanctions against Russia, including disruptions to energy flows and financial access.

Crude oil futures settled lower Friday but posted a weekly gain as traders weighed the possibility of disruptions to global crude supplies due to the Russia-Ukraine conflict. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for April ended down by $1.22 or about 1.3 percent at $91.59 a barrel.