China Stock Market Tipped To Open Under Pressure On Friday

The China stock market has moved lower in two of three trading days since the end of the two-day winning streak in which it had risen just 5 points or 0.2 percent. The Shanghai Composite Index now sits just above the 2,930-point plateau and it may take further damage on Friday.

The global forecast for the Asian markets is soft, thanks to fears of an economic slowdown. The European and U.S. markets finished sharply lower and the Asian bourses are expected to follow suit.

The SCI finished slightly lower on Thursday as losses from the property and resource stocks were offset by gains among the financials and oil companies.

For the day, the index shed 6.36 points or 0.22 percent to finish at 2,932.39 after trading between 2,928.83 and 2,947.88. The Shenzhen Composite Index sank 8.59 points or 0.53 percent to end at 1,602.19.

Among the actives, Industrial and Commercial Bank of China collected 0.51 percent, while Bank of China gained 0.64 percent, China Construction Bank and Bank of Communications both added 0.54 percent, China Merchants Bank eased 0.06 percent, China Life Insurance perked 0.09 percent, Jiangxi Copper shed 0.42 percent, Aluminum Corp of China (Chalco) dropped 0.87 percent, Yankuang Energy skidded 1.07 percent, PetroChina improved 0.67 percent, China Petroleum and Chemical (Sinopec) climbed 1.08 percent, Huaneng Power tanked 2.64 percent, China Shenhua Energy sank 0.86 percent, Gemdale plunged 3.16 percent, Poly Developments plummeted 4.08 percent and China Vanke tumbled 2.68 percent.

The lead from Wall Street is broadly negative as the major averages opened slightly higher on Thursday but quickly headed south and finished deep under water.

The Dow plummeted 494.82 points or 1.21 percent to finish at 40,347.97, while the NASDAQ tumbled 405.26 points or 2.30 percent to close at 17,194.14 and the S&P 500 sank 75.62 points or 1.37 percent to end at 5,446.68.

The sell-off on Wall Street came as disappointing data led to concerns about the outlook for the U.S. economy and offset optimism about a near-term interest rate cut by Federal Reserve.

The Institute for Supply Management released a report showing U.S. manufacturing activity unexpectedly contracted at an accelerated rate in July.

The Labor Department also released a report showing first-time claims for U.S. unemployment benefits rose to their highest level in almost a year last week.

Oil futures settled lower on Thursday on concerns about disappointing economic data and the outlook for oil demand. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for September ended down $1.60 or about 2.05 percent at $76.31 a barrel.