China Stock Market May Crack 3,200-Point Barrier On Thursday

The China stock market on Wednesday ended the two-day slide in which it had tumbled almost 250 points or 6.6 percent. The Shanghai Composite Index now rests just above the 3,170-point plateau and it’s looking at another strong lead for Thursday’s trade.

The global forecast for the Asian markets is broadly positive on slightly easing geopolitical concerns and more bargain hunting, especially among technology stocks. The European and U.S. markets were solidly higher and the Asian bourses are tipped to follow suit.

The SCI finished sharply higher on Wednesday with gains across the board, especially among the financials, properties and resource and energy stocks.

For the day, the index spiked 106.75 points or 3.46 percent to finish at 3,170.71 after trading between 3,023.30 and 3,177.79. The Shenzhen Composite Index jumped 72.88 points or 3.62 percent to end at 2086.24.

Among the actives, Industrial and Commercial Bank of China rose 0.22 percent, while Bank of China collected 1.20 percent, China Construction Bank climbed 1.20 percent, China Merchants Bank soared 7.93 percent, Bank of Communications spiked 3.91 percent, China Life Insurance accelerated 3.69 percent, Jiangxi Copper rallied 3.95 percent, Aluminum Corp of China (Chalco) jumped 3.87 percent, Yankuang Energy advanced 2.35 percent, PetroChina improved 1.60 percent, China Petroleum and Chemical (Sinopec) strengthened 2.01 percent, Huaneng Power surged 8.82 percent, China Shenhua Energy increased 2.78 percent, Gemdale added 3.36 percent, Poly Developments gained 1.90 percent, China Vanke soared 4.80 percent, China Fortune Land gathered 3.44 percent and Beijing Capital Development was up 3.09 percent.

The lead from Wall Street is upbeat as the major averages opened sharply higher on Wednesday and remained firmly in the green throughout the trading day.

The Dow surged 518.76 points or 1.55 percent to finish at 34,063.10, while the NASDAQ soared 487.93 points or 3.77 percent to end at 13,437.55 and the S&P 500 jumped 95.41 points or 2.24 percent to close at 4,357.86.

The rally came after the Fed announced its widely expected decision to raise interest rates for the first time since December of 2018 in an effort to combat inflation at 40-year highs. The Fed raised the target range for the federal funds rate by 25 basis points to 0.25 to 0.5 percent.

The central bank also predicted ongoing rate hikes will be appropriate, with the Fed’s latest projections pointing to an interest rate of 1.9 percent by the end of the year. It also expects to begin reducing its holdings of Treasury securities and agency debt and agency mortgage-backed securities at a coming meeting.

Optimism about a potential diplomatic solution to the ongoing Russian invasion of Ukraine also generated buying interest. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said during an address to the nation that the positions in the negotiations were beginning to “sound more realistic.”

Crude oil prices dropped Wednesday, extending losses to a third straight session after data showed a surprise surge in U.S. crude inventories, and amid hopes of some progress in Russia-Ukraine peace talks. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for April ended lower by $1.40 or 1.5 percent at $95.04 a barrel.