China Stock Market May Be Stuck In Neutral On Monday

(RTTNews) - The China stock market turned lower again on Friday, one day after halting the four-day losing streak in which it had stumbled almost 100 points or 3.1 percent. The Shanghai Composite Index now sits just above the 3,130-point plateau although it may inch higher again on Monday.

The global forecast for the Asian markets suggests little movement, although bargain hunting would likely limit any downside. The European markets were down and the U.S. bourses were mixed and flat and the Asian markets are expected to follow the latter lead.

The SCI finished sharply lower on Friday following losses from the property stocks and resource companies, while the financials offered support.

For the day, the index slumped 31.79 points or 1.00 percent to finish at the daily low of 3,131.95 after peaking at 3,179.12. The Shenzhen Composite Index tumbled 34.04 points or 1.72 percent to end at 1,950.26.

Among the actives, Industrial and Commercial Bank of China rose 0.22 percent, while Bank of China perked 0.27 percent, China Construction Bank advanced 0.85 percent, China Merchants Bank was up 0.28 percent, Bank of Communications collected 0.72 percent, China Life Insurance soared 2.53 percent, Jiangxi Copper retreated 1.47 percent, Aluminum Corp of China (Chalco) declined 1.33 percent, Yankuang Energy stumbled 1.52 percent, PetroChina eased 0.13 percent, China Petroleum and Chemical (Sinopec) dropped 0.82 percent, Huaneng Power skidded 1.10 percent, China Shenhua Energy slid 0.22 percent, Gemdale plummeted 4.29 percent, Poly Developments lost 0.63 percent and China Vanke slumped 1.51 percent.

The lead from Wall Street offers little guidance as the major averages opened lower on Friday but recovered to finish mixed and little changed.

The Dow rose 25.96 points or 0.08 percent to finish at 34,500.66, while the NASDAQ shed 26.12 points or 0.20 percent to close at 13,290.78 and the S&P 500 eased 0.65 points or 0.01 percent to end at 4,369.71.

For the week, the Dow shed 2.2 percent, the S&P lost 2.1 percent and the NASDAQ sank 2.6 percent.

The lack of direction on Wall Street came as traders remained cautious amid concerns the Federal Reserve will hold interest rates higher for longer to control inflation.

The market had maintained a negative bias thanks to hawkish minutes from the Federal Reserve's most recent policy meeting and higher bond yields, but bargain hunting pared the losses.

Oil prices climbed higher Friday, extending gains from the previous session after data indicated a drop in output, while a weaker dollar contributed as well to the uptick in oil prices. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures added $0.86 or 1.1 percent to $81.25 a barrel. WTI Crude futures shed 2 percent for the week.

Closer to home, China will see updated information for the loan prime rate from the People's Bank of China later today; it's expected to slip to 3.40 percent from 3.55 percent previously.