Higher Open Called For China Stock Market

(RTTNews) - The China stock market on Thursday ended the four-day losing streak in which it had fallen more than 45 points or 1.5 percent. The Shanghai Composite Index now sits just above the 3,260-point plateau and it's expected to see continued strength on Friday.

The global forecast for the Asian markets is positive on easing concerns over the health of the banking sector. The European and U.S. markets were up and the Asian bourses figure to open in similar fashion.

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

For the day, the index collected 21.19 points or 0.65 percent to finish at 3,261.25 after trading between 3,220.98 and 3,263.74. The Shenzhen Composite Index perked 4.92 points or 0.23 percent to end at 2,108.29.

Among the actives, Industrial and Commercial Bank of China rose 0.22 percent, while Bank of China perked 0.29 percent, China Construction Bank collected 0.34 percent, China Merchants Bank gained 0.67 percent, Bank of Communications added 0.39 percent, China Life Insurance plunged 3.29 percent, Jiangxi Copper climbed 1.07 percent, Aluminum Corp of China (Chalco) improved 0.56 percent, Yankuang Energy surged 4.00 percent, PetroChina skyrocketed 6.95 percent, China Petroleum and Chemical (Sinopec) rallied 2.38 percent, Huaneng Power increased 0.47 percent, China Shenhua Energy spiked 3.15 percent, Gemdale strengthened 1.19 percent, Poly Developments accelerated 2.05 percent, China Vanke jumped 1.36 percent and China Fortune Land was unchanged.

The lead from Wall Street is upbeat as the major averages opened sharply higher on Thursday, faded as the day progressed but still ended well in positive territory.

The Dow jumped 141.43 points or 0.43 percent to finish at 32,859.03, while the NASDAQ gained 87.24 points or 0.73 percent to close at 12,013.47 and the S&P 500 added 23.02 points or 0.57 percent to end at 4,050.83.

The continued strength on Wall Street came as concerns about turmoil in the banking sector continued to ease after sparking substantial volatility on Wall Street in recent weeks.

Traders also looked ahead to today's report on personal income and spending, which includes a reading on inflation said to be preferred by the Federal Reserve and could have an impact on the outlook for interest rates.

In economic news, the Labor Department noted a modest increase in first-time claims for U.S. unemployment benefits last week. Also, the Commerce Department said the U.S. economy grew slightly less than estimated in Q4 of 2022.

Crude oil prices rose sharply Thursday on easing concerns over turmoil in the banking sector and supply disruptions in Turkey. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for May ended higher by $1.40 or 1.9 percent at $74.37 a barrel.

Closer to home, China will see March results for its manufacturing, non-manufacturing and composite PMIs later today; in February, their scores were 52.6, 56.3 and 56.4, respectively.