China Stock Market May Take Further Damage On Monday

(RTTNews) - The China stock market has moved lower in two straight sessions, falling almost 9 points or 0.4 percent along the way. The Shanghai Composite Index now rests just beneath the 3,170-point plateau and it's expected to see continued consolidation on Monday.

The global forecast for the Asian markets is negative on continuing concerns over the outlook for interest rates and a global recession. The European and U.S. markets were down and the Asian bourses are expected to follow that lead.

The SCI finished barely lower on Friday following mixed performances from the property and resource stocks, while the financials offered support.

For the day, the index eased 0.79 points or 0.03 percent to finish at 3,167.86 after trading between 3,151.61 and 3,175.35. The Shenzhen Composite Index shed 15.39 points or 0.75 percent to end at 2,039.52.

Among the actives, Industrial and Commercial Bank of China collected 0.70 percent, while Bank of China and Bank of Communications both strengthened 1.27 percent, China Construction Bank jumped 1.44 percent, China Merchants Bank rallied 2.09 percent, China Life Insurance climbed 1.22 percent, Jiangxi Copper perked 0.06 percent, Aluminum Corp of China (Chalco) rose 0.21 percent, Yankuang Energy advanced 1.12 percent, PetroChina gained 0.39 percent, China Petroleum and Chemical (Sinopec) added 0.68 percent, Huaneng Power soared 2.74 percent, China Shenhua Energy improved 0.70 percent, Gemdale gathered 0.82 percent, Poly Developments spiked 1.91 percent, China Vanke increased 1.36 percent and China Fortune Land sank 073 percent.

The lead from Wall Street is weak as the major averages opened lower on Friday and remained in the red throughout the session.

The Dow tumbled 281.74 points or 0.85 percent to finish at 32,920.46, while the NASDAQ dropped 105.09 points or 0.97 percent to close at 10,705.41 and the S&P 500 sank 43.39 points or 1.11 percent to end at 3,852.36.

For the week, the NASDAQ plunged 2.7 percent, the S&P declined 2.1 percent and the Dow retreated 1.7 percent.

The sell-off on Wall Street came amid ongoing concerns about the outlook for interest rates and the economy. The Fed's hawkish tone in its latest monetary policy announcement has added to worries about the central bank's aggressive rate hikes tipping the economy into a recession.

While inflation has recently shown signs of slowing, the Fed signaled it plans to continue raising interest rates next year.

Crude oil prices fell sharply Friday amid concerns about the outlook for energy demand due to a global economic slowdown. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for January ended down by $1.82 or 2.4 percent at $74.29 a barrel. WTI crude futures gained 4.4 percent in the week.

Closer to home, China will release November numbers for foreign direct investment; in October, FDI was up 14.4 percent on year.