China Stock Market Predicted To Open Under Pressure

(RTTNews) - The China stock market has finished lower in three straight sessions, surrendering almost 70 points or 2.1 percent along the way. The Shanghai Composite Index now rests just beneath the 3,225-point plateau and it's likely to extend its losses on Monday.

The global forecast for the Asian markets is soft on lingering concerns over the outlook for interest rates following the recent batch of data. The European markets were down and the U.S. bourses were mixed and the Asian markets also figure to open in the red.

The SCI finished modestly lower on Friday following losses from the properties and mixed performances from the financials and resource stocks.

For the day, the index lost 25.01 points or 0.77 percent to finish at 3,224.02 after trading between 3,223.26 and 3,262.47. The Shenzhen Composite Index dropped 25.04 points or 1.16 percent to end at 2,125.19.

Among the actives, Bank of China collected 0.31 percent, while China Construction Bank dipped 0.18 percent, China Merchants Bank retreated 1.50 percent, Jiangxi Copper perked 0.26 percent, Aluminum Corp of China (Chalco) climbed 1.14 percent, Yankuang Energy rallied 2.60 percent, China Petroleum and Chemical (Sinopec) was up 0.22 percent, Huaneng Power tanked 2.35 percent, China Shenhua Energy added 0.48 percent, Gemdale tumbled 1.75 percent, Poly Developments fell 0.33 percent, China Vanke declined 1.38 percent, Beijing Capital Development lost 0.37 percent and Industrial and Commercial Bank of China, Bank of Communications, China Life Insurance and PetroChina were unchanged.

The lead from Wall Street is mixed as the major averages opened in the red on Friday, although the Dow managed to break into the positive territory and finish mildly in the green.

The Dow climbed 129.79 points or 0.39 percent to finish at 33,826.69, while the NASDAQ slumped 68.53 points or 0.58 percent to close at 11,787.27 and the S&P 500 fell 11.32 points or 0.28 percent to end at 4,079.09. For the week, the Dow eased 0.1 percent, the NASDAQ rose 0.6 percent and the S&P dipped 0.3 percent.

The early weakness on Wall Street reflected ongoing concerns about the outlook for interest rates following the week's batch of economic data, which has led to worries the Federal Reserve could raise rates higher than currently anticipated.

Recent comments from Fed officials have added to the concerns, with some suggesting the central bank could raise rates by another 50 basis points next month.

The recovery attempt came as treasury yields showed a notable turnaround, with the benchmark ten-year yield pulling back off its highest levels in well over a month.

Crude oil prices moved sharply lower on Friday, extending its recent losing streak to four days as traders worried about the impact of rate hikes on energy demand. West Texas Intermediate tumbled $2.15 or 2.7 percent to $76.34 per barrel. For the week, oil slumped 4.2 percent.

Closer to home, the People's Bank of China will update its loan prime rate later today; it's expected to hold steady at 3.65 percent.