Soft Start Seen For China Stock Market

(RTTNews) - The China stock market has ticked higher in consecutive trading days, collecting almost 15 points or 0.4 percent along the way. The Shanghai Composite Index now sit just above the 4,120-point plateau although it's likely to turn lower again on Friday.

The global forecast for the Asian markets is weak on continuing tensions in the Middle East and weak economic data. The European markets were up and the U.S. bourses were mixed to lower and the Asian markets figure to follow the latter lead.

The SCI finished slightly higher on Thursday following gains from the insurance companies, weakness from the financials and a mixed picture from the property sector.

For the day, the index gained 9.47 points or 0.23 percent to finish at 4,120.28 after trading between 4,093.01 and 4,133.10. The Shenzhen Composite Index improved 20.50 points or 0.72 percent to end at 2,876.11.

Among the actives, Industrial and Commercial Bank of China fell 0.42 percent, while Bank of China surrendered 3.82 percent, Agricultural Bank of China contracted 1.42 percent, China Merchants Bank declined 1.44 percent, Bank of Communications dropped 0.60 percent, China Life Insurance rallied 2.90 percent, Jiangxi Copper plummeted 4.01 percent, Aluminum Corp of China (Chalco) tumbled 3.19 percent, Yankuang Energy plunged 3.25 percent, PetroChina cratered 3.72 percent, China Petroleum and Chemical (Sinopec) tanked 2.36 percent, Huaneng Power sank 0.54 percent, China Shenhua Energy stumbled 1.62 percent, Gemdale lost 0.45 percent, Poly Developments rose 0.21 percent and China Vanke shed 0.67 percent.

The lead from Wall Street is soft as the major averages opened slightly higher on Thursday but spent most of the day bouncing back and forth across the line, finally ending mixed.

The Dow added 71.72 points or 0.14 percent to finish at 51,920.62, while the NASDAQ slumped 118.03 points or 0.46 percent to end at 25,358.60 and the S&P 500 dipped 0.73 points or 0.01 percent to close at 7,357.49.

The aimless trade came as investors digested a slew of economic data and some corporate news, including earnings update from Micron Technology - which rallied on stronger-than-expected earnings and an upward revision in revenue forecast.

In economic news, the Labor Department showed the core PCE price index - which is the Federal Reserve's preferred gauge of underlying inflation - moved further above the Federal Reserve's percent target. Also, the Commerce Department said new orders dropped more than expected, while jobless claims were down from a week earlier and GDP slowed in the first quarter.

Traders also kept an eye on developments in the Middle East as tensions along the Strait of Hormuz persist.

Crude oil prices jumped on Thursday as supply disruption threats reappeared after a projectile hit a cargo ship near Oman across the Strait of Hormuz. West Texas Intermediate crude for August delivery was up $1.49 or 2.12 percent at $71.83 per barrel.