China Shares May Inch Lower Again On Thursday

The China stock market headed south again on Wednesday, one day after ending the three-day slide in which it had dropped more than 35 points or 1.1 percent. The Shanghai Composite Index now sits just beneath the 3,225-point plateau and it’s predicted to hold steady in that neighborhood again on Thursday.

The global forecast for the Asian markets is murky as investors digest Wednesday’s FOMC rate decision. The European markets were down and the U.S. bourses were mixed and little changed and the Asian markets figure to follow the latter lead.

The SCI finished slightly lower on Wednesday following losses from the oil companies, gains from the properties and a mixed performance from the financials.

For the day, the index fell 8.49 points or 0.26 percent to finish at 3,223.03 after trading between 3,212.88 and 3,229.89. The Shenzhen Composite Index sank 10.68 points or 0.52 percent to end at 2,037.47.

Among the actives, Industrial and Commercial Bank of China rose 0.22 percent, while Bank of China shed 0.52 percent, China Construction Bank lost 0.67 percent, China Merchants Bank perked 0.24 percent, Bank of Communications collected 0.36 percent, China Life Insurance advanced 0.81 percent, Jiangxi Copper added 0.46 percent, Aluminum Corp of China (Chalco) gathered 0.33 percent, Yankuang Energy perked 0.28 percent, PetroChina retreated 2.12 percent, China Petroleum and Chemical (Sinopec) tumbled 2.94 percent, Huaneng Power improved 0.70 percent, China Shenhua Energy increased 0.78 percent, Gemdale surged 3.06 percent, Poly Developments was up 0.22 percent, China Vanke fell 0.34 percent and China Fortune Land skyrocketed 9.84 percent.

The lead from Wall Street offers little guidance as the major averages opened lower on Wednesday but recovered enough to finish mixed and little changed.

The Dow gained 82.05 points or 0.23 percent to finish at 35,520.12, while the NASDAQ fell 17.27 points or 0.12 percent to close at 14,127.28 and the S&P 500 dipped 0.71 points or 0.02 percent to end at 4,566.75.

The late-day action came after the Fed announced its widely expected decision to resume raising interest following a pause last month, raising the target range for the federal funds rate by 25 basis points from 5.25 to 5.50 percent. With the increase, the midpoint of the target range is the highest since early 2001.

The decision to increase rates came as the Fed noted inflation remains elevated, while U.S. economic activity has been expanding at a moderate pace and job gains have been robust in recent months.

In his post-meeting press conference Fed Chair Jerome Powell said it is possible the central bank could raise rates again in September or hold steady, noting the central bank plans to take a meeting by meeting approach.

Crude oil prices fell Wednesday, weighed down by data showing a smaller than expected drop in U.S. crude inventories last week. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for September fell $0.85 or 1.1 percent at $78.78 a barrel.

Closer to home, China provide June numbers for industrial profits later today; in May, profits were down 18.8 percent year to date.