Losing Streak Likely To Continue For China Shares

(RTTNews) - The China stock market has finished lower in two straight sessions, slumping almost 35 points or 1.1 percent along the way. The Shanghai Composite Index now sits just beneath the 3,270-point plateau and it may extend its losses again on Monday.

The global forecast for the Asian markets is soft ahead of this week's FOMC rate decision, while disappointing earnings news may weigh on tech sectors. The European markets were slightly higher and the U.S. bourses were down and the Asian markets figure to follow the latter lead.

The SCI finished slightly lower on Friday as losses from the properties and energy companies were mitigated by support from the financial sector.

For the day, the index eased 2.03 points or 0.06 percent to finish at 3,269.97 after trading between 3,246.73 and 3,293.64. The Shenzhen Composite Index shed 8.40 points or 0.38 percent to end at 2,185.41.

Among the actives, Industrial and Commercial Bank of China added 0.46 percent, while Bank of China collected 0.65 percent, China Construction Bank rose 0.36 percent, China Merchants Bank gained 0.37 percent, Bank of Communications advanced 0.87 percent, China Life Insurance was up 0.07 percent, Jiangxi Copper improved 0.70 percent, Yankuang Energy retreated 1.53 percent, PetroChina perked 0.19 percent, China Petroleum and Chemical (Sinopec) increased 0.49 percent, Huaneng Power skidded 1.14 percent, China Shenhua Energy climbed 0.89 percent, Gemdale fell 0.36 percent, Poly Developments dropped 0.95 percent, China Vanke gathered 0.52 percent, China Fortune Land declined 1.03 percent, Beijing Capital Development stumbled 1.14 percent and Aluminum Corp of China (Chalco) was unchanged.

The lead from Wall Street is negative as the major averages were unable to held early gains on Friday, quickly slipping into the red and finishing near session lows.

The Dow shed 137.61 points or 0.43 percent to finish at 31,899.29, while the NASDAQ tumbled 225.50 points or 1.87 percent to end at 11,834.11 and the S&P 500 slumped 37.32 points or 0.93 percent to close at 3,961.63.

For the week, the NASDAQ spiked 3.3 percent, the S&P jumped 2.5 percent and the Dow climbed 2.0 percent.

The pullback on Wall Street also came as traders looked ahead to this week's highly anticipated monetary policy decision by the Federal Reserve. The Fed is widely expected to raise interest rates by at least 75 basis points as part of its ongoing efforts to combat elevated inflation.

A steep drop by shares of Snap Inc. (SNAP) weighed on the tech-heavy NASDAQ after the company reported disappointing second quarter results and declined to provide guidance. Social media giant Twitter (TWTR) also reported second quarter results that missed estimates.

Crude oil futures settled sharply lower on Friday as prices fell on concerns about the outlook for energy demand. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for September ended lower by $1.65 or 1.7 percent at $94.70 a barrel.