China Shares May Tick Higher Again On Thursday

(RTTNews) - The China stock market bounced higher again on Wednesday, one day after ending the two-day winning streak in which it had advanced more than 20 points or 0.6 percent. The Shanghai Composite Index now rests just above the 3,350-point plateau and it figures to remain in that neighborhood again on Thursday.

The global forecast for the Asian markets murky on an uncertain outlook for interest rates. The European markets were down and the U.S. bourses were slightly up and the Asian markets figure to split the difference.

The SCI finished modestly higher on Wednesday as gains from the properties and resource stocks were dented by weakness from the financial sector.

For the day, the index advanced 27.05 points or 0.81 percent to finish at 3,351.54 after trading between 3,320.58 and 3,352.09. The Shenzhen Composite Index jumped 38.21 points or 1.90 percent to end at 2,045.55.

Among the actives, Industrial and Commercial Bank of China declined 0.56 percent, while Bank of China lost 0.54 percent, China Construction Bank shed 0.34 percent, China Merchants Bank dipped 0.17 percent, Agricultural Bank of China sank 0.76 percent, China Life Insurance eased 0.03 percent, Jiangxi Copper rose 0.33 percent, Aluminum Corp of China (Chalco) added 0.54 percent, Yankuang Energy fell 0.31 percent, PetroChina slumped 1.12 percent, China Petroleum and Chemical (Sinopec) stumbled 1.50 percent, Huaneng Power skidded 1.06 percent, China Shenhua Energy retreated 1.39 percent, Gemdale rallied 1.49 percent, Poly Developments perked 0.12 percent and China Vanke advanced 0.81 percent.

The lead from Wall Street is positive as the major averages opened lower on Wednesday but trended upward throughout the day, finally ending mildly to the upside.

The Dow gained 71.25 points or 0.16 percent to finish at 44,627.59, while the NASDAQ rose 14.99 points or 0.07 percent to close at 20,056.25 and the S&P 500 perked 14.57 points or 0.24 percent to end at 6,144.15.

The rebound also came even though the minutes of the latest Federal Reserve meeting revealed that officials want to see further progress on inflation before they consider resuming lowering interest rates.

In economic news, the Commerce Department said housing starts pulled back by more than expected in January.

Oil futures settled higher Wednesday, extending gains from previous session amid concerns about the outlook for supplies after a recent drone attack by Ukraine on a Russian pumping station. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for March rose $0.40 or 0.56 percent at $72.25 a barrel.