Higher Open Called For China Stock Market

(RTTNews) - The China stock market has moved higher in three straight sessions, accelerating almost 150 points or 5.4 percent along the way. The Shanghai Composite Index now rests just above the 2,900-point plateau and it has a positive lead again for Friday's trade.

The global forecast for the Asian markets is positive on solid economic data and a spike in crude oil prices. The European and U.S. markets were up and the Asian bourses are expected to follow suit.

The SCI finished sharply higher on Thursday with gains across the board, especially among the financials, properties and resource and energy stocks.

For the day, the index surged 85.34 points or 3.03 percent to finish at 2,906.11 after trading between 2,821.71 and 2,906.79. The Shenzhen Composite Index rallied 43.12 points or 2.62 percent to end at 1,689.98.

Among the actives, Industrial and Commercial Bank of China collected 0.80 percent, while Bank of China was up 1.22 percent, China Construction Bank rose 0.90 percent, China Merchants Bank added 2.69 percent, Bank of Communications gained 1.03 percent, China Life Insurance surged 6.46 percent, Jiangxi Copper strengthened 3.66 percent, Aluminum Corp of China (Chalco) soared 7.02 percent, Yankuang Energy jumped 3.34 percent, PetroChina skyrocketed 10.06 percent, China Petroleum and Chemical (Sinopec) rallied 7.88 percent, Huaneng Power accelerated 2.84 percent, China Shenhua Energy gathered 1.47 percent, Gemdale spiked 4.14 percent, Poly Developments jumped 6.90 percent and China Vanke soared 5.84 percent.

The lead from Wall Street is upbeat as the major averages opened higher, gave ground midday but still finished well in the green.

The Dow jumped 242.74 points or 0.64 percent to finish at 38,049.13, while the NASDAQ added 28.58 points or 0.18 percent to close at 15,510.50 and the S&P 500 rose 25.61 points or 0.53 percent to end at a fresh record high of 4,894.16.

The early strength on Wall Street came following the release of a Commerce Department report showing stronger than expected U.S. economic growth as well as a slowdown in the pace of inflation in the fourth quarter of 2023.

Buying interest waned over the course of the session, however, as traders looked ahead to Friday's report on personal income and spending, which could have a significant impact on the outlook for interest rates.

Oil prices rose sharply on Thursday, continuing to benefit from Wednesday's data showing a larger-than-expected drop in U.S. crude inventory. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for March surged $2.27 or 3 percent at $77.36 a barrel.