Higher Open Anticipated For China Stock Market

(RTTNews) - The China stock market has moved higher in back-to-back sessions, collecting almost 40 points or 1.2 percent along the way. The Shanghai Composite now sits just above the 3,400-point plateau and it may see additional support on Monday.

The global forecast for the Asian markets is flat to higher on optimism over the outlook for interest rates. The European and U.S. markets were mixed and fairly flat on Friday and the Asian bourses are expected to follow that lead.

The SCI finished sharply higher on Friday following gains from the financial shares, property stocks and resource companies.

For the day, the index advanced 35.22 points or 1.05 percent to finish at 3,404.08 after trading between 3,364.21 and 3,418.26. The Shenzhen Composite Index improved 25.34 points or 1.24 percent to end at 2,064.65.

Among the actives, Industrial and Commercial Bank of China advanced 0.96 percent, while Bank of China collected 0.39 percent, China Construction Bank added 0.49 percent, China Merchants Bank spiked 2.14 percent, Agricultural Bank of China and Yankuang Energy Both gained 0.61 percent, China Life Insurance soared 3.84 percent, Jiangxi Copper strengthened 1.28 percent, Aluminum Corp of China (Chalco) improved 1.33 percent, PetroChina gathered 0.36 percent, China Petroleum and Chemical (Sinopec) rallied 2.93 percent, Huaneng Power climbed 0.99 percent, China Shenhua Energy and Poly Developments both increased 1.00 percent, Gemdale perked 0.18 percent and China Vanke jumped 1.88 percent.

The lead from Wall Street is inconsistent as the major averages opened higher on Friday, although the Dow was unable to hold its gains and the markets ended mixed.

The Dow slumped 123.18 points or 0.28 percent to finish at 44,642.52, while the NASDAQ rallied 159.07 points or 0.81 percent to close at 19,859.77 and the S&P 500 slipped 15.16 points or 0.25 percent to end at 6,090.27.

The Dow continued to clump amid a continued decline by shares of UnitedHealth (UNH) after that company's CEO Brian Thompson was gunned down last week.

But the NASDAQ and the S&P continued to benefit from a positive reaction to Friday's closely watched Labor Department report showing employment in the U.S. surged more than expected in November.

However, the report said the unemployment rate crept up to 4.2 percent in November from 4.1 percent in October, increasing confidence the Federal Reserve will lower interest rates by another 25 basis points later this month.

Oil prices fell on Friday, weighed down by prospects of excess supply in the market. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for January shed $1.10 or 1.61 percent at $67.20 a barrel. WTI crude futures fell nearly 1 percent in the week.

Closer to home, China will see November numbers for consumer and producer prices later today; in October, consumer prices were down 0.3 percent on month and up 0.3 percent on year. Producer prices were down 2.9 percent on year in October.