China Stock Market May See Renewed Support On Monday

(RTTNews) - The China stock market on Friday halted the six-day winning streak in which it had advanced more than 100 points or 2.8 percent. The Shanghai Composite Index now sits just beneath the 3,600-point plateau although it's likely to move back to the upside again on Monday.

The global forecast for the Asian markets is upbeat after the U.S. and the European Union ratified a trade agreement over the weekend. The European markets were mixed and the U.S. bourses were up and the Asian markets are expected to follow the latter lead.

The SCI finished modestly lower on Friday following losses from the financial shares, resource stocks and energy companies - while the property sector was mixed.

For the day, the index lost 12.07 points or 0.33 percent to finish at 3,593.66 after trading between 3,586.22 and 3,610.03. The Shenzhen Composite Index dipped 2.19 points or 0.10 percent to end at 2,200.90.

Among the actives, Industrial and Commercial Bank of China sank 0.79 percent, while Bank of China was down 0.54 percent, Agricultural Bank of China lost 0.32 percent, China Merchants Bank eased 0.11 percent, Bank of Communications contracted 1.02 percent, China Life Insurance perked 0.07 percent, Jiangxi Copper tumbled 1.72 percent, Aluminum Corp of China (Chalco) slumped 1.15 percent, Yankuang Energy retreated 1.63 percent, PetroChina declined 1.37 percent, China Petroleum and Chemical (Sinopec) fell 0.33 percent, Huaneng Power dropped 0.99 percent, China Shenhua Energy skidded 1.00 percent, Gemdale rose 0.25 percent, Poly Developments added 0.48 percent and China Vanke shed 0.44 percent.

The lead from Wall Street is positive as the major averages opened higher on Friday and tracked mostly higher throughout the session, sending the NASDAQ and the S&P 500 to fresh record closing highs.

The Dow jumped 208.02 points or 0.47 percent to finish at 44,901.92, while the NASDAQ added 50.32 points or 0.24 percent to close at 21,108.32 and the S&P 500 gained 25.29 points or 0.40 percent to end at 6,388.64.

The strength on Wall Street came on optimism that a number of trade deals will be worked out prior to President Donald Trump's August 1 deadline for the extension of his "reciprocal tariffs."

With only a few days left, several trading partners are trying to reach an agreement with the U.S. to avoid high tariff imposition on their exports to the U.S. from August 1; the U.S. and the EU have since reached an agreement over the weekend.

Crude oil fell on Friday on reports that the U.S. might allow partners of Venezuela's state-run PDVSA to resume operations, sparking concerns of over-supply. West Texas Intermediate crude for September delivery closed, down $0.88 or 1.33 percent to $65.15 per barrel.

Closer to home, China will on Monday release June figures for industrial profits later this morning; in May, profits were down 8.3 percent on year.