China Stock Market May Add To Its Winnings On Friday

(RTTNews) - The China stock market ticked higher again on Thursday, one day after halting the two-day winning streak in which it had advanced more than 75 points or 1.9 percent. The Shanghai Composite Index now sits just above the 3,920-point plateau and it may see additional support on Friday.

The global forecast for the Asian markets is positive, with oil and technology stocks expected to lead the markets higher. The European and U.S. markets were up and the Asian bourses are expected to open in similar fashion.

The SCI finished modestly higher on Thursday as gains from the financials and oil companies were capped by weakness from the property sector.

For the day, the index added 8.65 points or 0.22 percent to finish at 3,922.41 after trading between 3,877.53 and 3,926.22. The Shenzhen Composite Index rose 5.38 points or 0.22 percent to end at 2,457.90.

Among the actives, Industrial and Commercial Bank of China advanced 1.03 percent, while Bank of China gained 0.55 percent, Agricultural Bank of China slumped 1.24 percent, China Merchants Bank added 0.69 percent, Bank of Communications collected 0.84 percent, China Life Insurance strengthened 1.23 percent, Jiangxi Copper perked 0.03 percent, Aluminum Corp of China (Chalco) accelerated 3.31 percent, Yankuang Energy improved 0.75 percent, PetroChina spiked 3.15 percent, China Petroleum and Chemical (Sinopec) climbed 1.09 percent, Huaneng Power rallied 2.25 percent, China Shenhua Energy rose 0.19 percent, Gemdale tanked 2.63 percent, Poly Developments dropped 0.92 percent and China Vanke was unchanged.

The lead from Wall Street is upbeat as the major averages opened slightly higher and trended generally to the upside throughout the session.

The Dow climbed 144.20 points or 0.31 percent to finish at 46,734.61, while the NASDAQ jumped 201.40 point or 0.89 percent to close at 22,941.80 and the S&P 500 added 39.04 points or 0.58 percent to end at 6,738.44.

The slow start on Wall Street followed mixed corporate earnings news as companies like Tesla (TSLA) and IBM Corp. (IBM) disappointed but Honeywell (HON) beat the street.

Crude oil surged on Thursday, extending gains from the past two sessions, as the U.S. imposed sanctions against Russian oil majors. West Texas Intermediate crude for December delivery was up $3.22 or 5.50 percent at $61.72 per barrel.

Reflecting the strength in the energy sector, the Philadelphia Oil Service Index spiked 4.8 percent and the NYSE Arca Oil Index jumped 3.0 percent.

Substantial strength was also visible among computer hardware stocks, as reflected by the 4.0 percent surge by the NYSE Arca Computer Hardware Index. Networking, semiconductor and steel stocks also saw considerable strength, while transportation stocks moved to the downside.