China Stock Market May Hand Back Thursday's Gains

(RTTNews) - The China stock market on Thursday wrote a finish to the four-day losing streak in which it had stumbled almost 100 points or 3.1 percent. The Shanghai Composite Index now sits just above the 3,160-point plateau although it's expected to open under renewed selling pressure on Friday.

The global forecast for the Asian markets remains soft on concerns over the outlook for interest rates. The European and U.S. markets were down and the Asian bourses figure to follow that lead.

The SCI finished modestly higher on Thursday as gains from the resource and energy companies were capped by weakness from the financials and properties.

For the day, the index gained 13.61 points or 0.43 percent to finish at 3,163.74 after trading between 3,123.25 and 3,167.45. The Shenzhen Composite Index jumped 16.66 points or 0.85 percent to end at 1,984.30.

Among the actives, Industrial and Commercial Bank of China dropped 0.86 percent, while Bank of China skidded 1.05 percent, China Construction Bank fell 0.34 percent, China Merchants Bank shed 0.56 percent, Bank of Communications retreated 1.25 percent, China Life Insurance tanked 2.09 percent, Aluminum Corp of China (Chalco) advanced 0.83 percent, Yankuang Energy rose 0.35 percent, PetroChina added 0.52 percent, China Petroleum and Chemical (Sinopec) improved 0.82 percent, Huaneng Power declined 1.41 percent, China Shenhua Energy perked 0.04 percent, Gemdale tumbled 1.69 percent, China Vanke eased 0.07 percent and Jiangxi Copper and Poly Developments were unchanged.

The lead from Wall Street is negative as the major averages opened higher on Thursday but quickly turned lower and finished near session lows.

The Dow tumbled 290.91 points or 0.84 percent to finish at 34,474.83, while the NASDAQ slumped 157.70 points or 1.17 percent to close at 13,316.93 and the S&P 500 sank 33.97 points or 0.77 percent to end at 4,370.36.

The weakness on Wall Street came as investors continue to digest Wednesday's Federal Reserve minutes, which suggest the central bank will hold interest rates higher for longer to fight inflation.

In economic news, the Labor Department said first-time claims for U.S. unemployment benefits saw a modest decline last week. Also, the Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia said its manufacturing index saw a big jump in August.

Crude oil futures were up on Thursday, snapping a three-session losing streak on news of stimulus measures from China's central bank. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for September climbed $1.01 or 1.3 percent at $80.39 a barrel.