China Stock Market May Find Traction On Monday

(RTTNews) - The China stock market has moved lower in two straight sessions, surrendering more than 55 points or 1.7 percent along the way. The Shanghai Composite Index now sits just beneath the 3,230-point plateau although it's likely to stop the bleeding on Monday.

The global forecast for the Asian markets is upbeat, thanks to encouraging economic and earnings news. The European and U.S. markets were up sharply and the Asian bourses figure to open in similar fashion.

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

For the day, the index retreated 53.68 points or 1.64 percent to finish at the daily low of 3,228.06 after peaking at 3,288.92. The Shenzhen Composite Index dropped 32.70 points or 1.49 percent to end at 2,159.99.

Among the actives, Industrial and Commercial Bank of China dropped 0.92 percent, while Bank of China fell 0.33 percent, China Construction Bank retreated 1.61 percent, China Merchants Bank dipped 0.26 percent, China Life Insurance declined 1.65 percent, Jiangxi Copper slumped 1.32 percent, Aluminum Corp of China (Chalco) tanked 2.67 percent, Yankuang Energy soared 3.89 percent, PetroChina skidded 1.18 percent, China Petroleum and Chemical (Sinopec) dropped 0.99 percent, Huaneng Power stumbled 1.50 percent, China Shenhua Energy added 0.61 percent, Gemdale surrendered 3.86 percent, Poly Developments plunged 5.05 percent, China Vanke crashed 4.19 percent, China Fortune Land plummeted 5.94 percent, Beijing Capital Development cratered 4.17 percent and Bank of Communications was unchanged.

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

The Dow surged 658.09 points or 2.15 percent to finish at 31,288.26, while the NASDAQ spiked 201.24 points or 1.79 percent to end at 11,452.42 and the S&P 500 jumped 72.78 points or 1.92 percent to close at 3,863.16.

For the week, the NASDAQ slumped by 1.6 percent, the S&P 500 slid by 0.9 percent and the Dow edged down by 0.2 percent.

A positive reaction to the latest earnings news contributed to the rally on Wall Street, fueled by the likes of Citigroup (C) and UnitedHealth (UNH), which exceeded expectations.

In economic news, the Commerce Department said retail sales jumped more than expected last month. Also, the University of Michigan unexpectedly showed a modest improvement in U.S. consumer sentiment in July. And the Labor Department said U.S. import prices crept up much less than expected in June.

Crude oil prices rose sharply on Friday, buoyed by reports that an increase in Saudi oil output is unlikely for now. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for August ended higher by $1.81 or 1.9 percent at $97.59 a barrel. WTI crude futures shed nearly 7 percent in the week.