China Stock Market May Test Resistance At 3,100 Points

(RTTNews) - The China stock market bounced higher again on Friday, one session after ending the two-day winning streak in which it had jumped almost 110 points or 3.7 percent. The Shanghai Composite Index now sits just above the 3,070-point plateau and it may extend its gains on Monday.

The global forecast for the Asian markets is upbeat following stronger than expected employment data from the United States. The European and U.S. markets were solidly higher and the Asian bourses are tipped to follow suit.

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

For the day, the index soared 72.99 points or 2.34 percent to finish at 3,070.80 after trading between 2,997.00 and 3,081.59. The Shenzhen Composite Index rallied 52.78 points or 2.68 percent to end at 2,020.16.

Among the actives, Industrial and Commercial Bank of China collected 0.74 percent, while Bank of China climbed 1.00 percent, China Construction Bank advanced 0.95 percent, China Merchants Bank soared 3.67 percent, Bank of Communications strengthened 1.34 percent, China Life Insurance skyrocketed 5.93 percent, Jiangxi Copper rallied 2.20 percent, Aluminum Corp of China (Chalco) accelerated 4.31 percent, Maanshan Iron jumped 1.91 percent, Yankuang Energy surged 4.31 percent, PetroChina improved 1.23 percent, China Petroleum and Chemical (Sinopec) gained 0.71 percent, Huaneng Power spiked 3.42 percent, China Shenhua Energy increased 3.16 percent, Gemdale added 3.91 percent, Poly Developments and China Vanke both rose 2.93 percent and Beijing Capital Development was unchanged.

The lead from Wall Street is upbeat as the major averages opened sharply higher on Friday, faded midday but bounced higher again late in the session.

The Dow surged 402.02 points or 1.26 percent to finish at 32,403.22, while the NASDAQ jumped 132.35 points or 1.28 percent to close at 10,475.25 and the S&P 500 climbed 50.66 points or 1.36 percent to end at 3,770.55.

For the week, the NASDAQ plummeted 5.7 percent, the S&P tumbled 3.4 percent and the Dow dropped 1.4 percent.

The volatility followed the release of the Labor Department's closely watched monthly employment report for October.

The report showed non-farm payroll employment jumped by 261,000 jobs in October after surging by an upwardly revised 315,000 jobs in September.

The report generated a mixed reaction among traders, creating uncertainty about the outlook for future interest rate hikes.

Crude oil prices climbed higher Friday amid easing concerns about the outlook for energy demand. A weak dollar and fears of a ban by the European Union on Russian oil also supported crude oil prices. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for December ended higher by $4.44 or 5 percent at $92.61 a barrel.

Closer to home, China will release October figures for imports, exports and trade balance later this morning. Imports are expected to rise 0.1 percent on year after adding 0.3 percent in September. Exports are called higher by an annual 4.1 percent, slowing from 5.7 percent in the previous month. The trade surplus is pegged at $95.8 billion, up from $84.74 billion a month earlier.