Soft Start Predicted For China Stock Market

(RTTNews) - Ahead of Friday's holiday for Tomb Sweeping Day, the China stock market had ended the two-day winning streak in which it had risen almost 15 points or 0.4 percent. The Shanghai Composite Index now sits just above the 3,340-point plateau and it may tick lower again on Monday.

The global forecast for the Asian markets is broadly negative on trade war concerns after China announced retaliatory tariffs on U.S. goods in reaction to President Donald Trump's new levies. The European and U.S. markets were sharply lower and the Asian bourses are also expected to open under pressure.

The SCI finished modestly lower on Thursday as losses from the resource and insurance companies were offset by gains from the financial shares and property stocks. For the day, the index slipped 8.12 points or 0.24 percent to finish at 3,342.01 after trading between 3,319.61 and 3,358.43. The Shenzhen Composite Index dropped 22.20 points or 1.10 percent to end at 1,992.39. Among the actives, Industrial and Commercial Bank of China collected 0.58 percent, while Bank of China climbed 1.25 percent, China Construction Bank jumped 1.71 percent, China Merchants Bank dipped 0.19 percent, Agricultural Bank of China advanced 0.97 percent, China Life Insurance eased 0.16 percent, Jiangxi Copper tumbled 2.27 percent, Aluminum Corp of China (Chalco) plunged 3.89 percent, Yankuang Energy shed 0.53 percent, PetroChina fell 0.37 percent, China Petroleum and Chemical (Sinopec) added 0.52 percent, Huaneng Power rallied 1.14 percent, China Shenhua Energy improved 0.80 percent, Gemdale soared 3.09 percent, Poly Developments increased 1.21 percent and China Vanke strengthened 1.42 percent.

The lead from Wall Street remains brutal as the major averages opened with heavy losses and remained deep in the red throughout the session.

The Dow plummeted 2,231.07 points or 5.50 percent to finish at 38,314.86, while the NASDAQ tumbled 962.82 points or 5.82 percent to close at 15,587.79 and the S&P 500 plunged 322.44 points or 5.97 percent to end at 5,074.08.

The extended nosedive on Wall Street came amid ongoing concerns about a global trade war, triggered by the tariff polices Trump announced last week.

China announced a 34 percent tariff will be imposed on all imported goods from the U.S. as of April 10, while Canada and the European Union are also preparing countermeasures.

Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell said in remarks that the tariff increases will be significantly larger than expected and the same is likely to be true of the economic effects, which will include higher inflation and slower growth.

Crude oil prices showed another substantial move to the downside on Friday on continuing concerns about the impact a global trade war will have on fuel demand. West Texas Intermediate for May delivery plunged $4.95 or 7.4 percent to $62 a barrel, a three-year low.