China Stock Market Tipped To Extend Losing Streak

(RTTNews) - The China stock market has tracked lower in two straight sessions, dropping almost 40 points or 1.3 percent along the way. The Shanghai Composite Index new sits just above the 3,200-point plateau and it may take further damage on Thursday.

The global forecast for the Asian markets is broadly negative on inflation and interest rate concerns. The European and U.S. markets were down on Wednesday and now the Asian markets are expected to open in similar fashion.

The SCI finished modestly lower on Wednesday following losses from the resource stocks and energy producers, while the financials were firm and the properties came in mixed.

For the day, the index lost 25.08 points or 0.78 percent to finish at 3,202.14 after trading between 3,184.39 and 3,232.02. The Shenzhen Composite Index tumbled 41.65 points or 1.95 percent to end at 2,096.07.

Among the actives, Industrial and Commercial Bank of China added 0.46 percent, while Bank of China collected 0.33 percent, China Construction Bank advanced 0.91 percent, China Merchants Bank soared 3.73 percent, Bank of Communications gained 0.44 percent, China Life Insurance surged 4.07 percent, Jiangxi Copper tumbled 2.03 percent, Aluminum Corp of China (Chalco) tanked 2.38 percent, Yankuang Energy shed 0.64 percent, PetroChina plunged 2.38 percent, China Petroleum and Chemical (Sinopec) lost 0.47 percent, Huaneng Power improved 0.62 percent, China Shenhua Energy sank 0.59 percent, Gemdale increased 0.43 percent, Poly Developments rallied 2.06 percent, China Vanke spiked 4.66 percent., China Fortune Land dropped 0.70 percent and Beijing Capital Development skidded 1.13 percent

The lead from Wall Street is soft as the major averages shook off a positive open on Wednesday, hugging the line for much of the day before a late slide pushed them firmly into the red for the fourth straight session.

The Dow tumbled 280.44 points or 0.88 percent to finish at 31,510.43, while the NASDAQ slumped 66.93 points or 0.56 percent to close at 11,816.20 and the S&P 500 sank 31.16 points or 0.78 percent to end at 3,955.00.

The continued weakness on Wall Street reflected lingering concerns about higher interest rates following some hawkish comments from Federal Reserve officials.

Exacerbating those concerns, Eurozone inflation hit a new record in August and added further pressure on the European Central Bank to tighten policy more aggressively as soon as next week.

In economic news, payroll processor ADP said that private sector employment in the U.S. increased by much less than expected in August.

Crude oil prices saw further downside on Wednesday, extending recent losses on concerns about the outlook for the global economy after the Eurozone's record high inflation report. West Texas Intermediate for October delivery tumbled $2.09 or 2.3 percent to $89.55 a barrel.