China Stock Market Due For Support On Friday

(RTTNews) - The China stock market has moved lower in back-to-back sessions, slumping almost 45 points or 1.5 percent along the way. The Shanghai Composite Index now sits just beneath the 2,960-point plateau although it may stop the bleeding on Friday.

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

The SCI finished modestly lower on Thursday following losses from the financial shares, oil companies and properties.

For the day, the index slipped 9.77 points or 0.33 percent to finish at 2,958.99 after trading between 2,958.07 and 2,986.18. The Shenzhen Composite Index sank 10.16 points or 0.55 percent to end at 1,835.27.

Among the actives, Industrial and Commercial Bank of China shed 0.42 percent, while China Construction Bank eased 0.16 percent, China Merchants Bank sank 0.70 percent, Bank of Communications slid 0.17 percent, China Life Insurance dropped 0.81 percent, Jiangxi Copper lost 0.41 percent, Aluminum Corp of China (Chalco) rose 0.39 percent, Yankuang Energy added 0.55 percent, PetroChina was down 0.15 percent, China Petroleum and Chemical (Sinopec) fell 0.56 percent, Huaneng Power skidded 1.02 percent, China Shenhua Energy dipped 0.29 percent, Gemdale slumped 1.06 percent, Poly Developments tumbled 1.88 percent, China Vanke retreated 1.32 percent and Bank of China was unchanged.

The lead from Wall Street is positive as the major averages opened higher on Thursday, slumped midday but rebounded again to end in the green.

The Dow climbed 158.11 points or 0.43 percent to finish at a fresh record closing high of 37,248.35, while the NASDAQ gained 27.59 points or 0.19 percent to close at 14,761.56 and the S&P 500 rose 12.46 points or 0.26 percent to end at 4,719.55.

Stocks continued to benefit from the Federal Reserve's monetary policy announcement on Wednesday. The Fed left interest rates unchanged, as widely expected, and signaled plans to cut interest rates three times next year.

Adding to optimism the economy is headed toward a soft landing, the Commerce Department released a report showing an unexpected increase in U.S. retail sales in November. Also, the Labor Department said first-time claims for U.S. jobless benefits unexpectedly fell last week.

Oil prices surged on Thursday for the second straight day, lifted by a weak dollar and an upward revision in global oil demand forecast by the International Energy Agency. West Texas International Crude oil futures for January spiked $2.11 or 3 percent at $71.58 a barrel.

Closer to home, China is scheduled to release a raft of data this morning, including November numbers for industrial production, retail sales, fixed asset investment and unemployment.

Industrial production is expected to rise 5.7 percent on year, up from 4.6 percent in October. Retail sales are called higher by an annual 12.5 percent, up from 7.6 percent in the previous month. FAI is seen higher by 3.0 percent on year, up from 2.9 percent a month earlier. The jobless rate is called steady at 5.0 percent.