The China stock market has moved higher in two of three trading days since the end of the two-day losing streak in which it had fallen almost 60 points or 1.8 percent. The Shanghai Composite Index now rests just above the 3,265-point plateau although it figures to turn lower again on Thursday.
The global forecast for the Asian markets is soft on fading hopes for peace talks between Russia and Ukraine. The European markets were mixed and the U.S. bourses were down and the Asian markets are expected to split the difference.
The SCI finished sharply higher on Wednesday following gains from the properties and mixed performances from the financials and resource stocks.
For the day, the index soared 62.66 points or 1.96 percent to finish at the daily high of 3,266.60 after trading as low as 3,216.30. The Shenzhen Composite Index surged 53.14 points or 2.55 percent to end at 2,137.61.
Among the actives, Industrial and Commercial Bank of China dipped 0.21 percent, while Bank of China advanced 0.94 percent, China Construction Bank shed 0.64 percent, China Merchants Bank rallied 2.71 percent, Bank of Communications collected 0.60 percent, China Life Insurance soared 4.08 percent, Jiangxi Copper added 0.56 percent, Aluminum Corp of China (Chalco) skidded 1.00 percent, Yankuang Energy plummeted 5.29 percent, PetroChina declined 1.60 percent, China Petroleum and Chemical (Sinopec) fell 0.23 percent, Huaneng Power accelerated 2.39 percent, China Shenhua Energy plunged 3.49 percent, Gemdale surged 6.18 percent, Poly Developments spiked 5.48 percent, China Vanke skyrocketed 8.58 percent, Beijing Capital Development jumped 4.11 percent and China Fortune Land improved 1.08 percent.
The lead from Wall Street is negative as the major averages opened lower on Wednesday and largely spent the entire day in the red.
The Dow shed 65.38 points or 0.19 percent to finish at 35,228.81, while the NASDAQ tumbled 177.36 points or 1.21 percent to end at 14,442.27 and the S&P 500 lost 29.15 points or 0.63 percent to close at 4,602.45.
The major U.S. averages ended lower Wednesday on news that Russia has continued to shell certain areas of Ukraine despite having promised to scale down military operations on Tuesday.
Rising worries about inflation and imminent aggressive monetary tightening by the Federal Reserve also weighed on sentiment.
In economic news, payroll processor ADP said private sector employment in the U.S. climbed more than expected in March. Also, the Commerce Department said the U.S. economy grew slightly less than estimated in Q4 2021.
Crude oil prices climbed higher Wednesday after data showed a drop in U.S. inventories last week, and amid a lack of progress in Russia-Ukraine peace talks. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for May ended higher by $3.58 or 3.4 percent at $107.82 a barrel.
Closer to home, China will see March results for its manufacturing, non-manufacturing and general PMIs from the National Bureau of Statistics later this morning; in February, their scores were 50.2, 51.6 and 51.2, respectively.
Market Analysis
Renewed Selling Pressure Expected For China Stock Market
2022-03-31 01:00:09