China Shares Tipped To Open To The Downside On Thursday

(RTTNews) - The China stock market on Wednesday snapped the four-day losing streak in which it had dropped almost 85 points or 2.1 percent. The Shanghai Composite Index now sits just above the 4,060-point plateau although it may hand those gains back on Thursday.

The global forecast for the Asian markets is negative on pessimism over the outlook for interest rates. The European and U.S. markets were down and the Asian bourses are expected to open in similar fashion.

The SCI finished modestly higher on Wednesday as gains from the insurance companies were offset by weakness from the properties and energy companies.

For the day, the index added 13.08 points or 0.32 percent to finish at 4,062.98 after trading between 4,023.03 and 4,065.37. The Shenzhen Composite Index jumped 25.84 points or 0.97 percent to end at 2,680.88.

Among the actives, Agricultural Bank of China slid 0.30 percent, while China Merchants Bank slipped 0.50 percent, Bank of Communications sank 0.58 percent, China Life Insurance improved 0.82 percent, Jiangxi Copper lost 0.54 percent, Aluminum Corp of China (Chalco) stumbled 2.92 percent, Yankuang Energy fell 0.35 percent, PetroChina declined 1.33 percent, China Petroleum and Chemical (Sinopec) surrendered 2.08 percent, China Shenhua Energy shed 0.54 percent, Gemdale tumbled 1.92 percent, Poly Developments tanked 2.15 percent, China Vanke retreated 1.49 percent and Huaneng Power, Bank of China and Industrial and Commercial Bank of China were unchanged.

The lead from Wall Street is weak as the major averages opened lower on Wednesday and moved deeper into the red as the day progressed, ending at session lows.

The Dow tumbled 768.11 points or 1.63 percent to finish at 46,225.15, while the NASDAQ dropped 327.11 points or 1.46 percent to close at 22,152.42 and the S&P 500 sank 91.39 points or 1.36 percent to end at 6,624.70.

The weakness early in the day came following the release of a Labor Department report showing producer prices in the U.S. increased by much more than expected in February.

Following that early pullback, stocks saw further downside in late-day trading following Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell's comments after the central bank announced its widely expected decision to leave interest rates unchanged.

Powell said the U.S. is seeing "some progress on inflation" but "not as much as we had hoped." While Fed officials' latest projections predict a quarter point rate cut this year, Powell warned that "you won't see the rate cut" if there isn't further progress on inflation.

Crude oil prices ticked lower on Wednesday after Iraq said it has resumed oil production, bypassing the Strait of Hormuz by going through Turkey. West Texas Intermediate crude for April delivery eased $0.18 or 0.19 percent at $96.39 per barrel.