China Stock Market Set To Find Traction On Thursday

The China stock market has moved lower in two straight sessions, sinking more than 75 points or 2.3 percent along the way. The Shanghai Composite Index now sits just beneath the 3,320-point plateau although it’s tipped to open in the green on Thursday.

The global forecast for the Asian markets is mixed to higher on optimism over the outlook for interest rates. The European markets were down and the U.S. bourses were mostly higher and the Asian market figure to follow the latter lead.

The SCI finished sharply lower on Wednesday following losses from the financials, properties, oil companies and resource stocks.

For the day, the index slumped 38.52 points or 1.15 percent to finish at 3,319.15 after trading between 3,305.25 and 3,349.72.

Among the actives, Industrial and Commercial Bank of China tanked 4.55 percent, while Bank of China plummeted 5.48 percent, China Construction Bank plunged 5.29 percent, China Merchants Bank declined 1.69 percent, Bank of Communications surrendered 4.51 percent, China Life Insurance retreated 1.27 percent, Jiangxi Copper and Yankuang Energy both slumped 1.17 percent, Aluminum Corp of China (Chalco) dropped 0.94 percent, PetroChina tumbled 3.96 percent, China Petroleum and Chemical (Sinopec) cratered 4.99 percent, Huaneng Power stumbled 1.23 percent, China Shenhua Energy sank 1.01 percent, Gemdale lost 2.14 percent, Poly Developments shed 1.90 percent, China Vanke slid 1.10 percent and China Fortune Land fell 2.33 percent.

The lead from Wall Street is mostly upbeat as the major averages opened higher and the NASDAQ and S&P 500 finished firmly in positive territory, while the Dow ended just below the unchanged line.

The Dow dipped 30.48 points or 0.09 percent to finish at 33,531.33, while the NASDAQ jumped 126.89 points or 1.04 percent to end at 12,306.44 and the S&P 500 added 18.47 points or 0.45 percent to close at 4,137.64.

The initial strength on Wall Street reflected a positive reaction to the Labor Department’s highly anticipated report on consumer prices, which said inflation matched estimates and rose in April.

The report also said the annual rate of consumer price growth eased to 4.9 percent in April from 5.0 percent in March. That marked the smallest 12-month increase since April 2021 and added to optimism about the Federal Reserve pausing its interest rate hikes.

Crude oil prices showed a notable move to the downside on Wednesday, giving back ground after closing high for three straight sessions. West Texas Intermediate for June delivery slumped $1.15 or 1.6 percent to $72.56 a barrel after peaking at $73.71 in the previous session.

Closer to home, China will release April figures for consumer and producer prices later this morning. Consumer prices are called flat on month and higher by 0.4 percent on year after slipping 0.3 percent on month and rising 0.7 percent on year in March. Producer prices are tipped to fall 3.2 percent on year after dropping 2.5 percent in the previous month.

Market Analysis