China Stock Market May Extend Winning Streak

(RTTNews) - The China stock market has moved higher in three straight sessions, advancing almost 100 points or 2.9 percent along the way. The Shanghai Composite Index now sits just above the 3,825-point plateau and it's expected to add to its winnings again on Monday.

The global forecast for the Asian markets is upbeat on an improved outlook for interest rates. The European and U.S. markets were up and the Asian bourses are expected to follow that lead.

The SCI finished sharply higher on Friday following gains from the property and resource stocks, while the financials were mixed and the oil companies were soft.

For the day, the index rallied 54.66 points or 1.45 percent to finish at the daily high of 3,825.76 after trading as low as 3,772.28. The Shenzhen Composite Index jumped 35.14 points or 1.49 percent to end at 2,303.21.

Among the actives, Industrial and Commercial Bank of China collected 0.39 percent, while Bank of China dipped 0.18 percent, Agricultural Bank of China advanced 0.97 percent, China Merchants Bank shed 0.48 percent, Bank of Communications fell 0.26 percent, China Life Insurance jumped 1.97 percent, Jiangxi Copper rose 0.32 percent, Aluminum Corp of China (Chalco) improved 0.78 percent, Yankuang Energy lost 0.38 percent, PetroChina sank 0.69 percent, China Petroleum and Chemical (Sinopec) slumped 0.51 percent, Huaneng Power dropped 0.95 percent, China Shenhua Energy was up 0.16 percent, Gemdale perked 0.25 percent, Poly Developments added 0.38 percent and China Vanke was unchanged.

The lead from Wall Street is solid as the major averages opened higher on Friday and continued to trend upward as the day continued, ending near session highs.

The Dow surged 846.24 points or 1.89 percent to finish at 45,631.74, while the NASDAQ rallied 396.23 points or 1.88 percent to end at 21,496.54 and the S&P 500 jumped 96.74 points or 1.52 percent to close at 6,466.91.

For the week, the Dow spiked 1.5 percent, the NASDAQ slipped 0.6 percent and the S&P rose 0.3 percent.

The rally on Wall Street came in reaction to Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell's highly anticipated speech before the Jackson Hole Economic Symposium.

While Powell touched only briefly on the outlook for monetary policy, his remarks have increased investor confidence that the Fed will lower interest rates next month.

Following Powell's remarks, CME Group's FedWatch Tool jumped to indicate an 83.1 percent chance the Fed will lower rates by a quarter point next month, up from 75.0 percent a day earlier.

Crude oil prices rose modestly on Friday as expectations of a Russia-Ukraine peace deal waned with no progress. West Texas Intermediate crude for October delivery was up $0.13 pr 0.20 percent at $63.65 per barrel.