China Shares May Stop The Bleeding On Friday

(RTTNews) - The China stock market has finished lower in consecutive trading days, falling more than a dozen points or 0.3 percent along the way. The Shanghai Composite Index now sit just beneath the 3,990-point plateau although it may find support on Friday.

The global forecast for the Asian markets is upbeat after the United States said it would hold off on fresh attacks in Iran. The European and U.S. markets were up and the Asian bourses are expected to follow them to the upside.

The SCI finished slightly lower on Thursday following losses from the financial shares and property stocks.

For the day, the index lost 6.20 points or 0.16 percent to finish at 3,987.00 after trading between 3,958.44 and 3,997.48. The Shenzhen Composite Index sank 17.74 points or 0.66 percent to end at 2,670.73.

Among the actives, Industrial and Commercial Bank of China fell 0.39 percent, while Bank of China slipped 0.32 percent, Agricultural Bank of China lost 0.45 percent, China Merchants Bank shed 0.44 percent, Bank of Communications collected 0.43 percent, China Life Insurance dropped 0.87 percent, Jiangxi Copper sank 0.86 percent, Aluminum Corp of China (Chalco) rallied 2.28 percent, Yankuang Energy retreated 1.66 percent, PetroChina climbed 1.27 percent, China Petroleum and Chemical (Sinopec) rose 0.21 percent, Huaneng Power perked 0.12 percent, China Shenhua Energy slid 0.46 percent, Gemdale declined 0.80 percent, Poly Developments contracted 0.77 percent and China Vanke skidded 0.95 percent.

The lead from Wall Street is positive as the major averages opened modestly higher on Thursday but accelerated late in the day to finish sharply higher.

The Dow soared 929.97 points or 1.86 percent to finish at 60,848.75, while the NASDAQ rallied 640.16 points or 2.54 percent to end at 25,809.66 and the S&P 500 jumped 127.31 points or 1.75 percent to end at 7,394.30.

The late-day rally on Wall Street came as crude oil prices plunged after President Donald Trump called off previously announced attacks against Iran.

Bargain hunting also contributed to the surge following the weakness seen during Wednesday's session, which dragged the NASDAQ and S&P 500 down to their lowest closing levels in a month.

Meanwhile, traders seemed to shrug off a report from the Labor Department showing producer prices increased by more than expected in May.

Crude oil prices plunged on Thursday after Trump recalled his earlier orders to attack Iran. West Texas Intermediate crude for July delivery was down $2.81 or 3.12 percent at $87.22 per barrel.

Closer to home, China will see May numbers for M2 money stock later today, with forecasts suggesting no change at an annual 8.6 percent.