Higher Open Anticipated For China Stock Market

The China stock market has alternated between positive and negative finishes through the last six trading days since the end of the 10-day winning streak in which it had skyrocketed more than 780 points or 27.9 percent. The Shanghai Composite now sits just above the 3,200-point plateau and it may tick higher again on Thursday.

The global forecast for the Asian markets suggests mild upside on optimism ahead of key U.S. economic data later this week. The European markets were mixed and the U.S. bourses were up and the Asian markets figure to split the difference.

The SCI finished barely higher on Wednesday as gains from the financials and properties were offset by weakness from the resource and energy companies.

For the day, the index perked 1.66 points or 0.05 percent to finish ay 3,202.95 after trading between 3,167.74 and 3,236.85. The Shenzhen Composite Index fell 8.35 points or 0.45 percent to end at 1,842.16.

Among the actives, Industrial and Commercial Bank of China rallied 1.60 percent, while Bank of China strengthened 1.59 percent, China Construction Bank jumped 1.70 percent, China Merchants Bank spiked 2.60 percent, Agricultural Bank of China collected 2.03 percent, China Life Insurance added 0.59 percent, Jiangxi Copper fell 0.31 percent, Aluminum Corp of China (Chalco) accelerated 1.65 percent, Yankuang Energy skidded 1.14 percent, PetroChina dipped 0.12 percent, China Petroleum and Chemical (Sinopec) eased 0.15 percent, Huaneng Power slid 0.14 percent, China Shenhua Energy lost 0.67 percent, Gemdale skyrocketed by the 10 percent daily limit, Poly Developments surged 4.21 percent and China Vanke soared 8.70 percent.

The lead from Wall Street is upbeat as the major averages opened mixed on Wednesday but quickly headed higher and finished well in positive territory.

The Dow rallied 337.28 points or 0.79 percent to finish at 43,077.70, while the NASDAQ gained 51.49 points or 0.28 percent to close at 18,367.08 and the S&P 500 added 27.21 points or 0.47 percent to end at 5,842.47.

The strength that emerged on Wall Street came on continued optimism about the strength of the U.S. economy ahead of the release of several key reports later this week including weekly jobless claims, retail sales and industrial production.

In economic news, the Labor Department released a report showing a continued decrease by prices for U.S. imports and exports in September.

Oil futures settled lower on Wednesday, weighed down by concerns about weak demand from China and easing geopolitical worries. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for November ended down $0.19 at $70.39 a barrel.