China Stock Market: Support Anticipated At 3,300 Points

(RTTNews) - The China stock market has moved lower in three straight sessions, sinking more than 85 points or 2.6 percent along the way. The Shanghai Composite Index now sits just beneath the 3,310-point plateau although it's looking at a steady start on Friday.

The global forecast for the Asian markets is mixed to lower on concerns of economic slowdown. The European and U.S. markets ended mostly lower and the Asian bourses figure to follow suit.

The SCI finished modestly lower on Thursday following losses from the financial shares, oil companies and resource stocks, while the properties were mixed.

For the day, the index fell 9.60 points or 0.29 percent to finish at 3,309.55 after trading between 3,307.29 and 3,333.25. The Shenzhen Composite Index rose 3.49 points or 0.17 percent to end at 2,032.77.

Among the actives, Industrial and Commercial Bank of China shed 0.60 percent, while Bank of China plunged 3.48 percent, China Construction Bank retreated 1.21 percent, China Merchants Bank collected 0.15 percent, Bank of Communications fell 0.34 percent, China Life Insurance rallied 2.50 percent, Jiangxi Copper tanked 2.36 percent, Aluminum Corp of China (Chalco) plummeted 3.66 percent, Yankuang Energy jumped 1.79 percent, PetroChina declined 1.80 percent, China Petroleum and Chemical (Sinopec) tumbled 2.16 percent, Huaneng Power added 0.52 percent, China Shenhua Energy skidded 1.05 percent, Gemdale dipped 0.24 percent, Poly Developments slumped 1.24 percent, China Fortune Land surged 2.39 percent, Beijing Capital Development climbed 1.34 percent and China Vanke was unchanged.

The lead from Wall Street is uninspired as the major averages opened lower on Thursday and only the NASDAQ was able to peek slightly into the green by the end of the session.

The Dow tumbled 221.82 points or 0.66 percent to finish at 33,309.51, while the NASDAQ rose 22.07 points or 0.18 percent to close at 12,328.51 and the S&P 500 slipped 7.02 points or 0.17 percent to end at 4,130.62.

The weakness on Wall Street came among disappointing earnings news from the likes of Disney (DIS), while renewed concerns about turmoil in the banking sector also weighed.

In economic news, the Labor Department said its producer price index for final demand rose less than expected, adding to optimism the Federal Reserve will leave interest rates unchanged next month.

The Labor Department also said that initial jobless claims climbed to their highest level in well over a year last week.

Crude oil prices fell sharply on Thursday amid uncertainty about the outlook for energy demand, while a firm dollar also weighed. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for June ended lower by $1.69 or 2.3 percent at $70.87 a barrel.