China Bourse Predicted To End Losing Streak

(RTTNews) - The China stock market has finished lower in three straight sessions, slumping more than 40 points or 1.4 percent along the way. The Shanghai Composite Index now sits just above the 3,035-point plateau although it's due for support on Friday.

The global forecast for the Asian markets is upbeat on encouraging inflation data and an improved outlook for interest rates. The European and U.S. markets were sharply higher and the Asian bourses are tipped to follow suit.

The SCI finished modestly lower on Thursday following losses from the oil companies and mixed performances from the financials and properties.

For the day, the index shed 12.04 points or 0.39 percent to finish at 3,036.13 after trading between 3,022.85 and 3,047.98. The Shenzhen Composite Index sank 19.69 points or 0.98 percent to end at 1991.82.

Among the actives, Industrial and Commercial Bank of China rose 0.24 percent, while Bank of China collected 0.33 percent, China Construction Bank improved 0.76 percent, China Merchants Bank was up 0.03 percent, Bank of Communications dipped 0.22 percent, China Life Insurance climbed 1.11 percent, Aluminum Corp of China (Chalco) shed 0.47 percent, Yankuang Energy rallied 2.28 percent, PetroChina retreated 1.39 percent, China Petroleum and Chemical (Sinopec) sank 0.70 percent, Huaneng Power added 0.57 percent, China Shenhua Energy perked 0.14 percent, Gemdale spiked 2.20 percent, Poly Developments gained 0.28 percent, China Vanke slumped 1.51 percent and Jiangxi Copper stumbled 1.67 percent.

The lead from Wall Street is broadly positive as the major averages saw their best performance in two years, opening sharply higher Thursday and continuing to accelerate as the day progressed, ending near session highs.

The Dow skyrocketed 1,201.43 points or 3.70 percent to finish at 33,715.37, while the NASDAQ exploded for 760.97 points or 7.35 percent to close at 11,114.15 and the S&P 500 surged 207.80 points or 5.54 percent to end at 3,956.37.

The rally on Wall Street followed the release of a report from the Labor Department showing a smaller than expected monthly increase in consumer prices and a bigger than expected slowdown in the annual rate of price growth.

The data suggests the Federal Reserve's efforts to contain inflation are having an effect, reinforcing recent optimism the central bank will slow the pace of interest rate hikes as early as next month.

Crude oil prices climbed higher on Thursday, rebounding after three straight days of losses as the dollar fell on the better than expected U.S. inflation data. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for December ended higher by $0.64 or 0.8 percent at $86.47 a barrel.