China Stock Market Poised To Add To Its Winnings

(RTTNews) - The China stock market has moved higher in two straight sessions, collecting almost 15 points or 0.5 percent along the way. The Shanghai Composite Index now sits just above the 3,240-point plateau and it's likely to see further upside again on Monday.

The global forecast for the Asian markets is positive on an improved outlook for interest rates. The European and U.S. markets were solidly higher and the Asian bourses are expected to open in similar fashion.

The SCI finished slightly higher on Friday following mixed performances from the financial shares, property stocks and resource companies.

For the day, the index rose 5.79 points or 0.18 percent to finish at 3,241.82 after trading between 3,219.77 and 3,256.51. The Shenzhen Composite Index added 6.74 points or 0.35 percent to end at 1,916.19.

Among the actives, Industrial and Commercial Bank of China skidded 1.05 percent, while China Construction Bank retreated 1.42 percent, China Merchants Bank shed 0.68 percent, Agricultural Bank of China dropped 0.98 percent, China Life Insurance rallied 1.64 percent, Jiangxi Copper lost 0.51 percent, Aluminum Corp of China (Chalco) added 0.39 percent, PetroChina tumbled 1.89 percent, China Petroleum and Chemical (Sinopec) slumped 0.96 percent, China Shenhua Energy dipped 0.23 percent, Gemdale surged 4.67 percent, China Vanke plunged 3.63 percent and Poly Developments, Huaneng Power and Yankuang Energy were unchanged.

The lead from Wall Street is broadly upbeat as the major averages opened solidly higher on Friday and stayed that way throughout the trading day, ending near session highs.

The Dow jumped 334.73 points or 0.78 percent to finish at 43,487.83, while the NASDAQ rallied 291.90 points or 1.51 percent to close at 19.630.20 and the S&P 500 advanced 59.30 points or 1.00 percent to end at 5,996.66.

For the week, the Dow soared 3.7 percent, the S&P jumped 2.9 percent and the NASDAQ climbed 2.5 percent.

Stocks benefitted from the recent decrease by treasury yields even as the yield on the benchmark ten-year note recovered from an early slump to end the day roughly flat. The recent retreat by treasury yields came as the U.S. inflation data released over the past few days led to renewed optimism about the outlook for interest rates.

Adding to the interest rate optimism, Federal Reserve Governor Christopher Waller told CNBC the central bank could lower interest rates multiple times this year if inflation eases as he is expecting.

Crude oil prices showed a notable move to the downside on Friday, extending the sharp pullback seen in the previous session. West Texas Intermediate for February delivery was down $0.80 or 1 percent to $77.88 a barrel on Friday; for the week, crude rose about 1 percent.

Closer to home, the People's Bank of China will set January's prime loan rates this morning for one- and five-year loans; they're expected to hold steady at 3.1 percent and 3.6 percent.