China Stock Market Tipped To Open In The Green

(RTTNews) - The China stock market has moved lower in consecutive trading days, slumping more than 60 points or 1.9 percent along the way. The Shanghai Composite Index new sits just above the 3,215-point plateau although it may find support on Thursday.

The global forecast for the Asian markets is flat to higher, with upside limited by concern over the outlook for interest rates. The European and U.S. markets were slightly higher and the Asian bourses are tipped to open in similar fashion.

The SCI finished sharply lower on Wednesday following losses from the financial shares, property stocks and resource companies.

For the day, the index tumbled 61.02 points or 1.86 percent to finish at 3,215.20 after trading between 3,212.39 and 3,281.88. The Shenzhen Composite Index plummeted 67.01 points or 3.01 percent to end at 2,160.38.

Among the actives, China Construction Bank dipped 0.18 percent, while China Merchants Bank sank 0.79 percent, China Life Insurance surged 4.97 percent, Jiangxi Copper declined 1.76 percent, Yankuang Energy lost 0.84 percent, PetroChina added 0.57 percent, China Petroleum and Chemical (Sinopec) shed 0.72 percent, Huaneng Power retreated 1.21 percent, China Shenhua Energy advanced 0.92 percent, Gemdale plunged 2.46 percent, Poly Developments fell 0.24 percent, China Vanke stumbled 1.42 percent, China Fortune Land plummeted 2.75 percent and Industrial and Commercial Bank of China, Bank of China, Bank of Communications and Aluminum Corp of China (Chalco) were unchanged.

The lead from Wall Street suggests mild upside as the major averages shook off early weakness and moved quickly to the upside, although they finished well off of the day's highs.

The Dow added 59.64 points or 0.18 percent to finish at 32,969.23, while the NASDAQ gained 50.23 points or 0.41 percent to end at 12,431.53 and the S&P 500 rose 12.04 points or 0.29 percent to close at 4,140.77.

The early weakness followed comments from Minneapolis Fed President Neel Kashkari, who reiterated the U.S. central bank's commitment to bringing inflation under control through tighter monetary policy.

Investors also looked ahead to Fed Chair Jerome Powell's speech at the central bank's annual Jackson Hole economic symposium later this week for clues about the bank's outlook for the economy and interest rates.

In economic news, the Commerce Department said that new orders for U.S. manufactured durable goods were virtually unchanged in July. Also, the rate of decline for pending home sales slowed from the previous month.

Crude oil prices climbed higher on Wednesday, supported by data showed a drop in U.S. crude inventories last week, as well as news that OPEC may cut production to support prices. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for September climbed $1.15 or 1.2 percent at $94.89 a barrel.