The China stock market has finished lower in two straight sessions, sinking more than 30 points or 0.8 percent along the way. The Shanghai Composite Index now sits just above the 3,500-point plateau although it may find traction on Friday.
The global forecast for the Asian markets is upbeat thanks to rising crude oil prices and solid economic data. The European markets were mixed and the U.S. bourses were firmly higher and the Asian markets figure to follow the latter lead.
The SCI finished modestly lower on Thursday following losses from the property and resource stocks, while the financials were mixed.
For the day, the index shed 15.45 points or 0.44 percent to finish at 3,501.86 after trading between 3,465.77 and 3,524.72. The Shenzhen Composite Index dropped 27.52 points or 1.16 percent to end at 2,353.27.
Among the actives, Industrial and Commercial Bank of China collected 0.60 percent, while Bank of China added 0.32 percent, China Construction Bank shed 0.60 percent, China Merchants Bank advanced 0.85 percent, Bank of Communications fell 0.22 percent, China Minsheng Bank slipped 0.20 percent, China Life Insurance tanked 3.49 percent, Jiangxi Copper sank 0.46 percent, Aluminum Corp of China (Chalco) tumbled 1.50 percent, Yanzhou Coal declined 0.70 percent, China Petroleum and Chemical (Sinopec) gained 0.50 percent, China Shenhua Energy lost 0.54 percent, Gemdale retreated 0.71 percent, Poly Developments plunged 2.76 percent, China Vanke eased 0.11 percent and PetroChina and China Fortune Land were unchanged.
The lead from Wall Street is broadly positive as stocks opened higher on Thursday and remained well in the green throughout the trading day.
The Dow jumped 332.26 points or 1.08 percent to finish at 31,055.86, while the NASDAQ climbed 167.20 points or 1.23 percent to end at 13,777.74 and the S&P 500 gained 41.57 points or 1.09 percent to close at 3,871.74.
Easing concerns about speculative trading have helped drive the markets higher along with mostly upbeat earnings news from big-name companies.
Positive sentiment was also generated in reaction to a report from the Labor Department showing a continued decline in first-time claims for U.S. unemployment benefits last week.
Traders have recently taken an optimistic view toward most economic data, seeing upbeat data as a positive for the economy while seeing disappointing data as putting pressure on lawmakers to pass more stimulus.
Crude oil futures were up Thursday for the fourth straight session on continued optimism that crude oil supplies will drop thanks to OPEC’s move to reduce output. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for March ended higher by $0.54 or 1 percent at $56.23 a barrel.
Market Analysis
China Shares Expected To Halt Losing Streak
2021-02-05 00:59:19
