China Stock Market May Find Traction On Friday

(RTTNews) - The China stock market has moved lower in three straight sessions, dropping more than 110 points or 2.8 percent along the way. The Shanghai Composite Index now sits just above the 3,760-point plateau although it may stop the bleeding on Friday.

The global forecast for the Asian markets is upbeat on 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 follow the latter lead.

The SCI finished sharply lower on Thursday following losses from the resource, energy and property stocks, while the financials provided support.

For the day, the index retreated 47.68 points or 1.25 percent to finish at 3,765.88 after trading between 3,732.84 and 3,808.40. The Shenzhen Composite Index tumbled 48.85 points or 2.05 percent to end at 2,331.45.

Among the actives, Industrial and Commercial Bank of China rallied 1.34 percent, while Bank of China improved 1.26 percent, Agricultural Bank of China surged 5.17 percent, China Merchants Bank rose 0.35 percent, Bank of Communications collected 0.83 percent, China Life Insurance jumped 1.55 percent, Jiangxi Copper plunged 3.67 percent, Aluminum Corp of China (Chalco) plummeted 4.74 percent, Yankuang Energy fell 0.31 percent, PetroChina slumped 1.21 percent, China Petroleum and Chemical (Sinopec) added 0.52 percent, Huaneng Power dropped 0.93 percent, China Shenhua Energy climbed 1.03 percent, Gemdale sank 0.77 percent, Poly Developments eased 0.13 percent and China Vanke lost 0.76 percent.

The lead from Wall Street is firm as the major averages opened higher on Thursday and climbed steadily higher throughout the day, finishing at session high.

The Dow rallied 350.06 points or 0.77 percent to finish at 45,621.29, while the NASDAQ jumped 209.97 points or 0.98 percent to end at 21,707.69 and the S&P 500 gained 53.82 points or 0.83 percent to close at 6,502.08.

The strength that emerged on Wall Street came as traders digested the latest U.S. economic data, including a report from payroll processor ADP showing weaker than expected private sector job growth in the month of August.

The Labor Department also released a report showing first-time claims for U.S. unemployment benefits rose by more than expected last week.

While the reports add to recent signs of weakness in the labor market, the data has also increased confidence that the Federal Reserve will lower interest rates later this month.

Crude oil prices slumped on Thursday on rising oversupply concerns as OPEC plans to hike output. West Texas Intermediate crude for October delivery was down $0.63 or 0.98 percent at $63.34 per barrel.