Renewed Support Anticipated For China Stock Market

(RTTNews) - The China stock market on Thursday halted the four-day winning streak in which hit had advanced more than 60 points or 1.9 percent. The Shanghai Composite Index now rests just above the 3,235-point plateau although it's predicted to rebound on Friday.

The global forecast for the Asian markets is mixed to higher, with support coming from technology, finance and oil stocks. The European markets were mixed and the U.S. bourses were up and the Asian markets figure to split the difference.

The SCI finished modestly lower on Thursday following losses from the oil and energy companies, while the financials and properties were mixed.

For the day, the index slipped 10.71 points or 0.33 percent to finish at 3,235.59 after trading between 3,233.80 and 3,253.70. The Shenzhen Composite Index dropped 18.80 points or 0.89 percent to end at 2,104.39.

Among the actives, China Construction Bank rose 0.18 percent, while China Merchants Bank dipped 0.24 percent, Bank of Communications collected 0.44 percent, China Life Insurance jumped 1.69 percent, Jiangxi Copper perked 0.12 percent, Aluminum Corp of China (Chalco) skidded 1.01 percent, Yankuang Energy tumbled 2.33 percent, PetroChina dropped 0.90 percent, Huaneng Power retreated 1.62 percent, China Shenhua Energy slumped 0.95 percent, Gemdale shed 0.76 percent, Poly Developments was up 0.17 percent, China Vanke improved 0.34 percent, China Fortune Land stumbled 1.36 percent and Industrial and Commercial Bank of China, Bank of China, China Petroleum and Chemical (Sinopec) and Beijing Capital Development were unchanged.

The lead from Wall Street is positive as the major averages shook off early weakness on Thursday, using an afternoon rally to climb up into positive territory.

The Dow jumped 193.24 points or 0.61 percent to finish at 31,774.52, while the NASDAQ gained 70.23 points or 0.60 percent to end at 11,862.13 and the S&P 500 rose 26.31 points or 0.66 percent to close at 4,006.18.

The volatility on Wall Street came as traders digested comments from Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell, who reiterated the central bank's commitment to aggressively fighting inflation.

Powell's comments are seen as reinforcing expectations that the Fed will raise interest rates by another 75 basis points at its next meeting later this month.

In economic news, the Labor Department unexpectedly reported a modest decrease in initial jobless claims last week.

Crude oil futures settled higher Thursday following Russia's threat to halt oil and gas exports to some buyers. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for October ended higher by $1.60 or 2 percent at $83.54 a barrel.

Closer to home, China will release August figures for consumer prices later this morning. Inflation is expected to rise 0.2 percent on month and 2.8 percent on year after gaining 0.5 percent on month and 2.7 percent on year in July. Producer prices are tipped to climb 3.1 percent on year, slowing from 4.2 percent in the previous month.