China Stock Market May Flirt With 3,300-Point Mark

(RTTNews) - The China stock market has climbed higher in three straight sessions, gathering more than 50 points or 1.5 percent along the way. The Shanghai Composite Index now sits just above the 3,285-point plateau and it's looking at continued support on Friday.

The global forecast for the Asian markets is mixed to higher 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 split the difference.

The SCI finished modestly higher on Thursday as gains from the financials and resource stocks were capped by weakness from the property sector.

For the day, the index gained 20.90 points or 0.64 percent to finish at the daily high of 3,286.65 after moving as low as 3,252.99. The Shenzhen Composite Index added 13.01 points or 0.62 percent to end at 2,111.45.

Among the actives, Bank of China advanced 0.87 percent, while China Construction Bank collected 0.50 percent, China Merchants Bank jumped 1.91 percent, Bank of Communications rose 0.39 percent, China Life Insurance strengthened 1.68 percent, Jiangxi Copper improved 1.42 percent, Aluminum Corp of China (Chalco) skyrocketed 5.41 percent, Yankuang Energy rallied 1.41 percent, PetroChina increased 1.23 percent, China Petroleum and Chemical (Sinopec) climbed 1.06 percent, Huaneng Power soared 2.11 percent, China Shenhua Energy spiked 1.77 percent, Gemdale fell 0.34 percent, Poly Developments lost 0.41 percent, China Vanke dipped 0.25 percent, China Fortune Land skidded 1.19 percent, Beijing Capital Development slumped 1.04 percent and Industrial and Commercial Bank of China was unchanged.

The lead from Wall Street ends up positive as the major averages opened firmly higher Thursday, faded into negative territory as the day progressed before a late rally pushed them into the green.

The Dow added 75.14 points or 0.23 percent to finish at 32,105.25, while the NASDAQ surged 117.44 points or 1.01 percent to end at 11,787.40 and the S&P 500 rose 11.75 points or 0.30 percent to close at 3,948.72.

The early rally on Wall Street came as traders continued to react to Wednesday's monetary policy announcement by the Federal Reserve, which indicated the central bank is nearing the end of its tightening cycle.

Buying interest waned over the course of the session, however, as concerns about the recent trouble in the banking sector continue to hang over the markets.

In economic news, the Labor Department noted a slight decrease by first-time claims for U.S. unemployment benefits last week. Also, the Commerce Department said new home sales in the U.S. increased from a significantly downwardly revised level in February.

Oil prices drifted lower Thursday on concerns the interest rate hikes by several central banks could slow down economic growth and impact the outlook for energy demand. West Texas Intermediate crude oil futures for May ended lower by $0.94 or 1.3 percent at $69.96 a barrel.