China Stock Market May Halt Losing Streak On Monday

(RTTNews) - The China stock market has moved lower in consecutive trading days, slumping more than 35 points or 0.8 percent along the way. The Shanghai Composite Index now sits just above the 4,065-point plateau although it may stop the bleeding on Monday.

The global forecast for the Asian markets is upbeat, with bargain hunting among the technology companies likely to lead the markets higher. The European and U.S. markets were firmly higher and the Asian markets are expected to follow that lead.

The SCI finished slightly lower on Friday as losses from the financial shares and property stocks were mitigated by support from the oil companies.

For the day, the index shed 10.33 points or 0.25 percent to finish at 4,065.58 after trading between 4,029.97 and 4,095.03. The Shenzhen Composite Index dipped 1.08 points or 0.04 percent to end at 2,649.57.

Among the actives, Industrial and Commercial Bank of China shed 0.55 percent, while Bank of China dropped 0.93 percent, Agricultural Bank of China and China Shenhua Energy both lost 0.45 percent, China Merchants Bank fell 0.28 percent, Bank of Communications sank 0.74 percent, China Life Insurance slumped 0.75 percent, Jiangxi Copper retreated 1.32 percent, Aluminum Corp of China (Chalco) jumped 1.98 percent, Yankuang Energy advanced 0.84 percent, PetroChina rallied 2.28 percent, China Petroleum and Chemical (Sinopec) vaulted 1.56 percent, Huaneng Power eased 0.14 percent, Gemdale tumbled 1.78 percent, Poly Developments tanked 2.65 percent and China Vanke contracted 1.43 percent.

The lead from Wall Street is broadly positive as the major averages opened firmly higher on Friday and continued to accelerate throughout the day, ending at session highs.

The Dow surged 1,206.97 points or 2.47 percent to finish at a record 50,115.67, while the NASDAQ soared 490.61 points or 2.18 percent to close at 23,031.21 and the S&P 500 jumped 133.90 points or 1.97 percent to end at 6,932.30.

For the week, the Dow rallied 2.5 percent, while the S&P dipped 0.1 percent and the NASDAQ fell 1.8 percent.

The rally on Wall Street reflected bargain hunting as traders looked to pick up stocks at reduced levels following the recent weakness, especially among the technology shares that had dragged the NASDAQ to its lowest close in two months.

Airline stocks showed a substantial move to the upside on the day, as did computer hardware and semiconductor stocks. A sharp increase by the price of gold also provided significant strength to the markets.

Crude oil moved higher on Friday after the U.S. issued an advisory telling its citizens to depart from Iran, further stoking concerns of war. West Texas Intermediate crude for March delivery was up $0.20 or 0.32 percent at $63.49 per barrel.