Higher Open Predicted For China Stock Market

(RTTNews) - The China stock market headed south again on Wednesday, one day after halting the three-day losing streak in which it had slumped almost 55 points or 1.7 percent. The Shanghai Composite Index now sits just above the 3,275-point plateau although it may find renewed support on Thursday.

The global forecast for the Asian markets is upbeat on encouraging news for interest rates. The European markets had modest gains and the U.S. bourses surged, and the Asian markets figure to split the difference.

The SCI finished slightly lower on Wednesday following losses from the financial shares and resource stocks, while the properties were mixed.

For the day, the index eased 1.68 points or 0.05 percent to finish at 3,275.76 after trading between 3,265.73 and 3,282.57. The Shenzhen Composite Index gained 7.31 points or 0.33 percent to end at 2,194.54.

Among the actives, Industrial and Commercial Bank of China lost 0.68 percent, while Bank of China shed 0.64 percent, China Construction Bank dipped 0.18 percent, China Merchants Bank sank 0.77 percent, Bank of Communications fell 0.43 percent, China Life Insurance retreated 1.37 percent, Jiangxi Copper slid 0.47 percent, Aluminum Corp of China (Chalco) dropped 0.65 percent, Yankuang Energy declined 0.56 percent, PetroChina and China Shenhua Energy both surrendered 0.76 percent, China Petroleum and Chemical (Sinopec) was down 0.49 percent, Huaneng Power jumped 1.65 percent, Gemdale eased 0.16 percent, Poly Developments climbed 1.12 percent, China Vanke stumbled 1.61 percent, China Fortune Land plunged 2.60 percent and Beijing Capital Development gave away 0.66 percent.

The lead from Wall Street is broadly positive as the major averages opened slightly higher on Wednesday but skyrocketed late in the day after the FOMC rate decision.

The Dow spiked 436.05 points or 1.37 percent to finish at 32,197.59, while the NASDAQ surged 469.85 points or 4.06 percent to end at 12,032.42 and the S&P 500 jumped 102.56 points or 2.62 percent to close at 4,023.61.

Stocks were steady in early trading and then accelerated to the upside following the Federal Reserve's monetary policy decision and Fed Chair Jerome Powell's post-meeting press conference.

While the Fed announced another 75-basis-point interest rate, as widely expected, comments from Powell hinted at a slowdown in the pace of rate hikes at future meetings.

Crude oil prices surged higher Wednesday after data showed a drop in U.S. crude inventories last week, while cuts in Russian gas flows to Europe also contributed as oil's sharp rise. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for September climbed $2.28 or 2.4 percent at $97.26 a barrel.