China Stock Market Tipped To Open Under Pressure

(RTTNews) - The China stock market bounced higher again on Thursday, one day after ending the four-day winning streak in which it had gathered almost 85 points or 2.6 percent. The Shanghai Composite Index now rests just above the 3,280-point plateau although it's likely to open in the red on Friday.

The global forecast for the Asian markets is mixed to lower, with profit taking expected after solid gains a day earlier - especially among the technology shares. The European and U.S. markets were mixed and the Asian bourses are likely to follow suit.

The SCI finished sharply higher on Thursday following gains from the financials, properties and resource stocks.

For the day, the index advanced 51.65 points or 1.60 percent to finish at the daily high of 3,281.67 after moving as low as 3,237.90. The Shenzhen Composite Index climbed 36.15 points or 1.66 percent to end at 2,216.98.

Among the actives, Industrial and Commercial Bank of China and China Fortune Land Development both collected 0.69 percent, while Bank of China advanced 0.99 percent, China Construction Bank added 0.73 percent, China Merchants Bank spiked 3.65 percent, Bank of Communications and Aluminum Corp of China (Chalco) both gained 0.66 percent, China Life Insurance surged 5.81 percent, Jiangxi Copper strengthened 1.65 percent, Yankuang Energy rose 0.44 percent, PetroChina climbed 1.17 percent, China Petroleum and Chemical (Sinopec) gathered 0.73 percent, Huaneng Power rallied 2.48 percent, China Shenhua Energy increased 0.35 percent, Gemdale jumped 2.01 percent, Poly Developments accelerated 2.41 percent and China Vanke was up 1.12 percent.

The lead from Wall Street is soft as the major averages opened higher on Thursday but were unable to hold the early gains and eventually finished mixed.

The Dow rose 27.16 points or 0.08 percent to finish at 33,336.67, while the NASDAQ sank 74.89 points or 0.58 percent to end at 12,779.91 and the S&P 500 dipped 2.97 points or 0.07 percent to close at 4,207.27.

The extended rally in early trading came after the Labor Department released a report showing an unexpected decrease in producer prices in July.

Following Wednesday's tamer than expected consumer price data, the report initially added to optimism that the Federal Reserve will slow the pace of its interest rate hikes next month.

However, subsequent comments from Fed officials seemed to downplay the data, with Chicago Fed President Charles Evans saying inflation remains "unacceptably high."

Crude oil prices rose sharply Thursday on rising hopes for energy demand after the International Energy Agency lifted its demand outlook. The dollar's weakness following the soft inflation data also contributed to the rise in oil prices. West Texas Intermediate Crude futures ended higher by $2.41 or 2.6 percent at $94.34 a barrel.