China Stock Market May Snap Losing Streak

(RTTNews) - The China stock market has moved lower in back-to-back sessions, slipping more than 35 points or 1 percent in that span. The Shanghai Composite Index now rests just above the 3,365-point plateau although it may stop the bleeding on Monday.

The global forecast for the Asian markets is upbeat on optimism over the outlooks for tariffs and trade. The European and U.S. markets were up and the Asian bourses are expected to open in similar fashion.

The SCI finished modestly lower on Friday following losses from the financial shares and resource stocks, while the property sector came in mixed.

For the day, the index shed 13.36 points or 0.40 percent to finish at 3,367.46 after trading between 3,356.66 and 3,380.29. The Shenzhen Composite Index rose 3.56 points or 0.18 percent to end at 1,986.50.

Among the actives, Industrial and Commercial Bank of China retreated 1.51 percent, while Bank of China sank 0.71 percent, Agricultural Bank of China slumped 1.24 percent, China Merchants Bank declined 1.45 percent, Bank of Communications weakened 1.30 percent, China Life Insurance stumbled 1.27 percent, Jiangxi Copper fell 0.32 percent, Aluminum Corp of China (Chalco) skidded 1.20 percent, Yankuang Energy dropped 1.01 percent, PetroChina tumbled 1.57 percent, China Petroleum and Chemical (Sinopec) tanked 2.08 percent, Huaneng Power dipped 0.27 percent, China Shenhua Energy contracted 1.50 percent, Poly Developments and Gemdale both rose 0.24 percent and China Vanke slid 0.29 percent.

The lead from Wall Street is positive as the major averages shook off a soft start on Friday and continued to trend higher throughout the day, ending at session highs.

The Dow rallied 331.94 points or 0.78 percent to finish at 42,654.74, while the NASDAQ added 98.80 points or 0.52 percent to close at 19,211.10 and the S&P 500 gained 41.45 points or 0.70 percent to end at 5,958.38.

For the week, the NASDAQ surged 7.2 percent, the S&P spiked 5.3 percent and the Dow soared 3.4 percent.

News of the U.S.-China trade deal generated considerable buying interest that carried over for much of the week. While uncertainty remains about the U.S. and its trade partners reaching deals that permanently lower tariffs, traders have continued to express optimism.

Meanwhile, traders largely shrugged off data from the University of Michigan showing consumer sentiment in the U.S. has unexpectedly continued to deteriorate in the month of May.

Crude oil futures showed a strong move to the upside on Friday amid optimism about U.S. trade policies. West Texas Intermediate crude for June delivery jumped $0.87 or 1.4 percent to $62.49 a barrel. For the week, the price of crude oil surged 2.4 percent.

Closer to home, China will release a batch of data this morning, including April figures for industrial production, retail sales, fixed asset investment, house prices and unemployment.

Industrial production is expected to rise 5.7 percent on year, down from 7.7 percent in March. Sales are expected to climb an annual 6.0 percent, up from 5.9 percent in the previous month. FAI is seen higher by 4.4 percent on year, up from 4.2 percent a month earlier. House prices (-4.5 percent) and the jobless rate (5.2 percent) are seen steady.