China Stock Market Tipped To Extend Thursday's Losses

(RTTNews) - The China stock market on Thursday halted the two-day winning streak in which it had advanced almost 50 points or 1.6 percent. The Shanghai Composite Index now sits just above the 3,285-point plateau and the losses may accelerate on Friday.

The global forecast for the Asian markets suggests further consolidation on worldwide recession fears. The European and U.S. markets finished with deep losses and the Asian bourse are also tipped to open in the red.

The SCI finished modestly lower on Thursday following losses from the financials, properties and oil companies.

For the day, the index lost 20.02 points or 0.61 percent to finish at 3,285.38 after trading between 3,277.53 and 3,319.69. The Shenzhen Composite Index added 7.75 points or 0.37 percent to end at 2,106.75.

Among the actives, Industrial and Commercial Bank of China shed 0.63 percent, while China Construction Bank dropped 0.83 percent, China Merchants Bank stumbled 1.28 percent, Bank of Communications sank 0.80 percent, China Life Insurance tanked 3.08 percent, Jiangxi Copper skidded 1.17 percent, Aluminum Corp of China (Chalco) lost 0.59 percent, Yankuang Energy plummeted 6.08 percent, PetroChina plunged 3.43 percent, China Petroleum and Chemical (Sinopec) declined 1.43 percent, Huaneng Power soared 4.58 percent, China Shenhua Energy cratered 3.86 percent, Gemdale retreated 1.34 percent, Poly Developments slumped 1.76 percent, China Vanke fell 0.87 percent, China Fortune Land skidded 1.18 percent and Bank of China was unchanged.

The lead from Wall Street is broadly negative as the major averages opened sharply lower on Thursday and remained deep in the red throughout the day, finishing near session lows.

The Dow plummeted 741.46 points or 2.42 percent to finish at 29,927.07, while the NASDAQ plunged 453.06 points or 4.08 percent to close at 10,646.10 and the S&P 500 dropped 123.22 points or 3.25 percent to end at 3,666.77.

The sell-off on Wall Street reflected concerns aggressive monetary policy action by central banks around the world may trigger a global recession.

Following the Federal Reserve's widely expected 75 basis point interest rate hike on Wednesday, central banks in Switzerland, England and Taiwan, among others, also decided to hike rates.

In economic news, the Labor Department noted a modest decrease in first-time claims for U.S. jobless benefits last week. Also, the Commerce Department said new residential construction in the U.S. plunged more than expected May.

Oil futures settled higher on Thursday after prices rebounded as tight supply levels outweighed concerns about the outlook for energy demand. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for July ended higher by $2.27 or 2 percent at $117.58 a barrel.