China Stock Market: Resistance Expected At 3,000 Points

(RTTNews) - The China stock market on Wednesday halted the two-day slide in which it had stumbled almost 65 points or 2.1 percent. The Shanghai Composite Index now sits just beneath the 3,000-point plateau although it's tipped to open in the red on Thursday.

The global forecast for the Asian markets is mixed to lower, with technology stocks expected to fall under strong selling pressure. The European markets were up and the U.S. bourses were down and the Asian markets figure to follow the latter lead.

The SCI finished modestly higher on Wednesday as losses from the financials, properties and energy companies dented upside from the broader market.

For the day, the index improved 23.22 points or 0.78 percent to finish at 2,999.50 after trading between 2,977.56 and 3,028.35. The Shenzhen Composite Index jumped 34.40 points or 1.79 percent to end at 1,957.92.

Among the actives, Industrial and Commercial Bank of China retreated 1.38 percent, while Bank of China fell 0.33 percent, China Construction Bank sank 0.91 percent, China Merchants Bank dropped 0.92 percent, Bank of Communications skidded 1.10 percent, China Life Insurance slumped 0.98 percent, Jiangxi Copper climbed 1.17 percent, Yankuang Energy plunged 3.79 percent, PetroChina lost 0.78 percent, China Petroleum and Chemical (Sinopec) retreated 1.17 percent, Huaneng Power tumbled 2.08 percent, China Shenhua Energy tanked 2,75 percent, Gemdale declined 2.91 percent, Poly Developments plummeted 4.06 percent, China Vanke surrendered 3.09 percent and Aluminum Corp of China (Chalco) and China Fortune Land development were unchanged.

The lead from Wall Street is negative as the major averages opened lower on Wednesday, saw some strength midday but headed south as the day progressed.

The Dow managed a slight gain of 2.37 points or 0.01 percent to 31,839.11, while the NASDAQ plunged 228.12 points or 2.04 percent to close at 10.970.99 and the S&P 500 sank 28.51 points or 0.74 percent to end at 3,830.60.

The steep drop by the NASDAQ came amid a negative reaction to disappointing earnings news from tech giants Microsoft (MSFT) and Alphabet (GOOGL).

On the other hand, the slight uptick by the Dow came amid a strong gain by shares of Visa (V), which 4.6 percent after reporting better than expected third quarter results.

In economic news, the Commerce Department reported that new home sales in the U.S. pulled back sharply in September after unexpectedly skyrocketing in August, although the decrease was smaller than expected.

Crude oil prices climbed higher on Wednesday, buoyed by data showing a drop in gasoline stockpiles and a weak U.S. dollar. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for December spiked $2.59 or 3 percent at $87.91 a barrel.

Closer to home, China will see September results for industrial profits later today; in August, profits were up 0.80 percent on month and down 2.1 percent on year.