China Stock Market May Find Support On Friday

(RTTNews) - The China stock market has moved lower in back-to-back sessions, slipping more than 15 points or 0.4 percent along the way. The Shanghai Composite Index now rests just beneath the 3,200-point plateau although it's likely to bounce higher again on Friday.

The global forecast for the Asian markets is upbeat after days of selling as recession fears may already be priced in. The European markets were mixed and the U.S. bourses were up and the Asian markets figure to follow the latter lead.

The SCI finished slightly lower as losses from the resource and energy stocks were offset by support from the financials and properties.

For the day, the index eased 2.27 points or 0.07 percent to finish at 3,197.35 after trading between 3,187.26 and 3,206.72. The Shenzhen Composite Index fell 6.66 points or 0.32 percent to end at 2,064.38.

Among the actives, Industrial and Commercial Bank of China rose 0.23 percent, while Bank of China collected 0.64 percent, China Construction Bank added 0.54 percent, China Merchants Bank increased 0.37 percent, Bank of Communications gained 0.63 percent, China Life Insurance improved 0.66 percent, Jiangxi Copper was up 0.34 percent, Aluminum Corp of China (Chalco) fell 0.21 percent, Yankuang Energy tumbled 1.79 percent, PetroChina sank 0.77 percent, China Petroleum and Chemical (Sinopec) retreated 1.31 percent, Huaneng Power declined 1.37 percent, China Shenhua Energy lost 0.48 percent, Gemdale soared 2.91 percent, Poly Developments jumped 1.59 percent, China Vanke surged 4.76 percent and Beijing Capital Development rallied 2.66 percent.

The lead from Wall Street is positive as the major averages opened higher on Thursday and remained in the green throughout the session.

The Dow jumped 183.56 points or 0.55 percent to finish at 33,781.48, while the NASDAQ rallied 123.45 points or 1.13 percent to end at 11,082.00 and the S&P 500 added 29.59 points or 0.75 percent to close at 3,963.51.

The strength on Wall Street came as traders picked up stocks at somewhat reduced levels following the sell-off seen to start the week, which reflected concerns about the outlook for interest rates and the economy.

Traders will be looking for signs of a slowdown in producer price inflation later today, as well as a reduction in inflation expectations amid concerns the Federal Reserve will need to push the economy into a prolonged recession in order to bring inflation down close to its 2 percent target.

The Labor Department reported that first-time claims for U.S. unemployment benefits edged slightly higher last week.

Crude oil showed a notable downturn over the course of the trading day on Thursday as traders remain concerned about the outlook for energy demand amid the possibility of a global recession. West Texas Intermediate for January delivery slid $0.55 or 0.8 percent to $71.46 a barrel.

Closer to home, China will on release November numbers for consumer prices later this morning. Inflation is expected to slip 0.2 percent on month and rise 1.6 percent on year after adding 0.1 percent on month and 2.1 percent on year in October. Producer prices are tipped to fall 1.4 percent on year after sinking 1.3 percent in the previous month.