China Stock Market May Head South Again On Thursday

(RTTNews) - The China stock market has moved higher in two of three trading days since the end of the five-day losing streak in which it had surrendered almost 100 points or 2.8 percent. The Shanghai Composite Index now sits just above the 3,260-point plateau although it's predicted to open in the red again on Thursday.

The global forecast for the Asian markets is soft, with financials likely to lead the way lower amid fresh concerns over the stability of the sector. The European and U.S. markets were mostly lower and the Asian markets figure to follow that lead.

The SCI finished modestly higher on Wednesday following gains from the financial shares, property stocks and resource companies.

For the day, the index collected 18.00 points or 0.55 percent to finish at 3,263.31 after trading between 3,256.86 and 3,273.12. The Shenzhen Composite Index increased 5.33 points or 0.26 percent to end at 2.081.26.

Among the actives, Industrial and Commercial Bank of China climbed 1.13 percent, while Bank of China and PetroChina both jumped 1.80 percent, China Construction Bank rallied 2.06 percent, China Merchants Bank advanced 0.87 percent, Bank of Communications collected 0.79 percent, China Life Insurance improved 1.09 percent, Jiangxi Copper perked 0.05 percent, Aluminum Corp of China (Chalco) accelerated 1.78 percent, Yankuang Energy retreated 1.23 percent, China Petroleum and Chemical (Sinopec) rose 0.18 percent, Huaneng Power soared 3.84 percent, China Shenhua Energy added 0.38 percent, Gemdale gathered 0.81 percent, Poly Developments spiked 1.34 percent, China Vanke was up 0.70 percent and China Fortune Land gained 0.39 percent.

The lead from Wall Street is largely negative as the major averages opened sharply lower on Wednesday. A late push pared the losses and nudged the NASDAQ barely into the green.

The Dow tumbled 280.83 points or 0.87 percent to finish at 31,874.57, while the NASDAQ perked 5.90 points or 0.05 percent to close at 11,434.05 and the S&P 500 sank 27.36 points or 0.70 percent to end at 3,891.93.

The weakness on Wall Street was fueled by weakness from the financial sector.

In addition to ongoing concerns about turmoil in the financial sector following the collapse of Silicon Valley Bank and Signature Bank, short-term debt woes of Swiss lender Credit Suisse contributed to the bearish sentiment in the market.

In economic news, the Commerce Department said retail sales in U.S. fell slightly more than expected in February. Also, the Labor Department said producer prices in the U.S. unexpectedly edged slightly lower last month.

Crude oil prices plunged to their lowest level since December 2021 on Wednesday, amid rising concerns about global economic growth and worries about the outlook for energy demand after data showed an increase in U.S. crude inventories. West Texas Intermediate futures for April tumbled 5 percent at $67.61 a barrel.

Closer to home, China will release February data for house prices later today; in January, prices were down 1.5 percent on year.