China Shares Expected To Open In The Green.

(RTTNews) - The China stock market on Friday halted the three-day winning streak in which it had advanced almost 65 points or 2 percent. The SCI now sits just above the 3,370-point plateau, although it's likely to open to the upside on Monday.

The global forecast for the Asian markets is upbeat on bargain hunting and an improved outlook for interest rates. The European markets were down and the U.S. bourses were up and the Asian markets figure to follow the latter lead.

The SCI finished modestly lower on Friday following losses from the financials, gains from the resource stocks and a mixed picture from the property sector.

For the day, the index slipped 8.55 points or 0.25 percent to finish at 3,372.55 after trading between 3,363.93 and 3,390.94. The Shenzhen Composite Index lost 10.99 points or 0.53 percent to end at 2,080.27.

Among the actives, Industrial and Commercial Bank of China lost 0.44 percent, while Bank of China shed 0.55 percent, China Construction Bank slid 0.35 percent, China Merchants Bank collected 1.42 percent, Agricultural Bank of China dipped 0.20 percent, China Life Insurance retreated 1.20 percent, Jiangxi Copper strengthened 1.45 percent, Aluminum Corp of China (Chalco) rallied 1.05 percent, Yankuang Energy gained 0.46 percent, PetroChina added 0.52 percent, China Petroleum and Chemical (Sinopec) improved 0.70 percent, Huaneng Power rose 0.30 percent, China Shenhua Energy climbed 1.13 percent, Poly Developments skidded 1.12 percent, China Vanke stumbled 3.09 percent and Gemdale was unchanged.

The lead from Wall Street is positive as the major averages opened higher on Friday, dipped midday but rebounded into the green by the close.

The Dow climbed 222.62 points or 0.52 percent to finish at 42,801.72, while the NASDAQ rallied 126.92 points or 0.70 percent to close at 18,196.22 and the S&P 500 gained 31.68 points or 0.55 percent to end at 5,770.20. For the week, the NASDAQ plunged 3.5 percent, the S&P 500 sank 3.1 percent and the Dow slumped 2.4 percent.

The volatility on Wall followed the release of the closely watched Labor Department report showing employment in the U.S. increased less than expected in February.

While the report added to recent concerns about the strength for the economy, the data may also have generated some optimism about the outlook for interest rates.

Bargain hunting contributed to the afternoon recovery, which came even though Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell reiterated the central bank does not "need to be in a hurry" to adjusted interest rates amid uncertainty about the effects of President Donald Trump's policies.

Crude oil prices faded after an early surge but still remained notably higher on Friday, adding to the modest gain posted in the previous session. West Texas Intermediate for April delivery climbed $0.68 cents or 1.0 percent to $67.04 a barrel.