China Shares May Halt Losing Streak

(RTTNews) - The China stock market has tracked lower in back-to-back sessions, sinking more than 55 points or 1.5 percent along the way. The Shanghai Composite Index now rests just above the 3,820-point plateau although it may find traction on Monday.

The global forecast for the Asian markets is mixed to higher on continued optimism over the outlook for interest rates. The European markets were slightly lower and the U.S. bourses were up and the Asian markets figure to split the difference.

The SCI finished modestly lower on Friday as losses from the oil companies were offset by bargain hunting among the properties and a mixed picture from the financial sector.

For the day, the index shed 11.57 points or 0.30 percent to finish at 3,820.09 after trading between 3,811.90 and 3,843.17. The Shenzhen Composite Index fell 7.56 points or 0.31 percent to end at 2,472.63.

Among the actives, Industrial and Commercial Bank of China slumped 1.23 percent, while Bank of China eased 0.19 percent, Agricultural Bank of China tumbled 1.77 percent, China Merchants Bank added 0.42 percent, Bank of Communications collected 0.72 percent, China Life Insurance skidded 1.14 percent, Jiangxi Copper fell 0.24 percent, Aluminum Corp of China (Chalco) strengthened 1.31 percent, Yankuang Energy surged 3.75 percent, PetroChina shed 0.73 percent, China Petroleum and Chemical (Sinopec) sank 0.74 percent, Huaneng Power dipped 0.14 percent, China Shenhua Energy improved 0.84 percent, Gemdale jumped 1.94 percent, Poly Developments rallied 2.19 percent and China Vanke soared 3.10 percent.

The lead from Wall Street is upbeat as the major averages opened higher on Friday and remained in the green throughout the session, hitting fresh record closing highs.

The Dow jumped 172.85 points or 0.37 percent to finish at 46,315.27, while the NASDAQ climbed 160.75 points or 0.72 percent to end at 22,631.48 and the S&P 500 added 32.40 points or 0.49 percent to close at 6,664.36.

For the week, the NASDAQ surged 2.2 percent, while the S&P gained 1.2 percent and the Dow rose 1.1 percent.

Optimism about lower interest rates has contributed to the strength on Wall Street, with the Federal Reserve cutting rates by a quarter point on Wednesday and signaling two more rate cuts this year.

Overall trading activity appeared somewhat subdued, however, as a lack of major U.S. economic data kept some traders on the sidelines.

Crude oil dropped on Friday as traders dissected the Federal Reserve's message, hinting at underlying risks to the economy and stoking demand concerns. West Texas Intermediate crude for October delivery was down $0.91 or 1.43 percent at $62.66 per barrel.

Closer to home, The People's Bank of China will announce its loan prime rate figures later this morning; for September, the rate is expected to remain unchanged at 3.50 percent, while the overall rate is also called steady at 3.00 percent.