China Stock Market May Find Traction On Thursday

(RTTNews) - The China stock market has tracked lower in three straight sessions, slipping almost 35 points or 1.1 percent along the way. The Shanghai Composite Index now sits just beneath the 3,120-point plateau although it may stop the bleeding on Thursday.

The global forecast for the Asian markets is upbeat on rising optimism over the 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 modestly lower on Wednesday following losses from the resource stocks, gains from the properties and a mixed picture from the financial sector.

For the day, the index sank 25.87 points or 0.82 percent to finish at 3,119.90 after trading between 3,117.93 and 3,142.97. The Shenzhen Composite Index lost 13.42 points or 0.76 percent to end at 1,759.58.

Among the actives, Industrial and Commercial Bank of China rose 0.19 percent, while Bank of China collected 0.45 percent, China Merchants Bank and China Life Insurance both dropped 0.82 percent, Bank of Communications fell 0.29 percent, Jiangxi Copper retreated 1.61 percent, Aluminum Corp of China (Chalco) plunged 3.18 percent, Yankuang Energy advanced 0.85 percent, PetroChina lost 0.40 percent, China Petroleum and Chemical (Sinopec) shed 0.63 percent, Huaneng Power plummeted 3.90 percent, China Shenhua Energy dipped 0.25 percent, Gemdale rallied 1.53 percent, Poly Developments soared 3.03 percent, China Vanke surged 3.62 percent and China Construction Bank was unchanged.

The lead from Wall Street is strong as the major averages opened higher and remained in the green throughout, finishing near daily highs.

The Dow rallied 349.89 points or 0.88 percent to finish at 39,908.00, while the NASDAQ spiked 231.21 points or 1.40 percent to close at 16,742.29 and the S&P 500 jumped 61.47 points or 1.17 percent to end at 5,308.15.

The rally on Wall Street followed the release of a Labor Department report showing consumer prices in the U.S. rose slightly less than expected in April.

Following Tuesday's hotter-than-expected producer price inflation data, the report added to recently renewed optimism about the outlook for interest rates.

In other economic news, the Commerce Department said retail sales in the U.S. unexpectedly came in flat in April, versus forecasts for an increase of 0.4 percent.

Crude oil prices climbed higher on Wednesday, buoyed by soft inflation data and a report showing a bigger than expected drop in U.S. crude inventories last week. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for June ended up by $0.61 or 0.78 percent at $78.63 a barrel.