China Stock Market Poised To Open In The Red

The China stock market has tracked lower in six straight sessions, slumping more than 125 points or 3.8 percent along the way. The Shanghai Composite Index now sits just beneath the 3,265-point plateau and it’s looking at another soft start again on Thursday.

The global forecast for the Asian markets is soft on renewed concerns over the health of the financial sectors, although support from technology stocks should limit the downside. The European markets were down and the U.S. bourses were mixed and the Asian markets figure to split the difference.

The SCI finished barely lower on Wednesday as losses from the financials and oil companies were mitigated by support from the energy stocks and a mixed performance from the properties.

For the day, the index eased 0.77 points or 0.02 percent to finish at 3,264.10 after trading between 3,239.99 and 3,277.98. The Shenzhen Composite Index gained 10.50 points or 0.52 percent to end at 2,025.08.

Among the actives, Bank of China slid 0.27 percent, while China Construction Bank shed 0.47 percent, China Merchants Bank lost 0.62 percent, Bank of Communications retreated 1.42 percent, China Life Insurance tanked 2.03 percent, Jiangxi Copper declined 1.23 percent, Aluminum Corp of China (Chalco) jumped 1.62 percent, Yankuang Energy spiked 2.19 percent, PetroChina skidded 1.05 percent, China Petroleum and Chemical (Sinopec) fell 0.31 percent, Huaneng Power surged 5.40 percent, China Shenhua Energy dipped 0.35 percent, Gemdale added 0.61 percent, Poly Developments stumbled 1.07 percent, China Vanke slumped 0.54 percent, China Fortune Land improved 1.38 percent, Beijing Capital Development advanced 0.92 percent and Industrial and Commercial Bank of China was unchanged.

The lead from Wall Street is murky as the major averages opened higher on Wednesday, but the Dow and S&P 500 quickly fell into the red while the NASDAQ stayed positive throughout the day.

The Dow stumbled 228.96 points or 0.68 percent to finish at 33,301.87, while the NASDAQ gained 55.19 points or 0.47 percent to close at 11,854.35 and the S&P 500 fell 15.64 points or 0.38 percent to end at 4,055.99.

The mixed performance on Wall Street came as traders weighed upbeat tech earnings against renewed concerns about turmoil in the banking sector.

The rebound by the NASDAQ reflected a positive reaction to earnings news from Microsoft (MSFT) and Google parent Alphabet (GOOGL), among others.

On the other hand, shares of First Republic (FRC) extended the steep drop seen in the previous session, which came after the regional bank reported a loss of more than $100 billion in deposits in the first quarter, renewing concerns about turmoil in the banking sector.

In economic news, the Commerce Department said new orders for U.S. manufactured durable goods surged much more than expected in March amid a substantial rebound in orders for transportation equipment.

Crude oil futures ended sharply lower Wednesday as worries about the outlook for energy demand dragged down oil prices. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for June were down $2.77 or 3.6 percent to settle at $74.30 a barrel.

Closer to home, China will provide March data for industrial profit later today, with analysts looking for a decline of 12.0 percent on year after slumping an annual 22.9 percent in February.