Higher Open Called For China Stock Market

(RTTNews) - The China stock market has climbed higher in consecutive trading days, gathering more than 70 points or 2.3 percent along the way. The Shanghai Composite Index now rests just above the 3,150-point plateau and it's looking at another green light for Thursday's trade.

The global forecast for the Asian markets is upbeat on an improved outlook for interest rates. The European and U.S. markets finished higher and the Asian bourses are expected to open in similar fashion.

The SCI finished barely higher on Wednesday following gains from the oil companies, profit taking among the properties and mixed performances from the financials.

For the day, the index picked up 1.59 points or 0.05 percent to finish at 3,151.34 after trading between 3,137.37 and 3,158.57. The Shenzhen Composite Index rose 2.47 points or 0.12 percent to end at 2,018.69.

Among the actives, Industrial and Commercial Bank of China shed 0.46 percent, while Bank of China collected 0.32 percent, China Construction Bank eased 0.18 percent, China Merchants Bank rose 0.29 percent, Bank of Communications sank 0.84 percent, China Life Insurance climbed 1.03 percent, Jiangxi Copper perked 0.23 percent, Aluminum Corp of China (Chalco) retreated 1.54 percent, Yankuang Energy jumped 1.70 percent, PetroChina improved 0.96 percent, China Petroleum and Chemical (Sinopec) advanced 0.89 percent, Huaneng Power dipped 0.26 percent, China Shenhua Energy strengthened 0.99 percent, Gemdale tumbled 6.17 percent, Poly Developments plunged 6.98 percent, China Vanke dropped 0.96 percent and Beijing Capital Development plummeted 9.97 percent.

The lead from Wall Street ends up sharply positive as the major averages opened fairly flat and stayed that way before exploding higher late in the day.

The Dow surged 737.24 points or 2.18 percent to finish at 34,589.77, while the NASDAQ soared 484.22 points or 4.41 percent to end at 11,468.00 and the S&P 500 rallied 122.48 points or 3.09 percent to close at 4,080.11.

The rally on Wall Street came as Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell's remarks provided further evidence the central bank plans to slow its aggressive pace of interest rate hikes as soon as next month.

The Fed's next monetary policy meeting is scheduled for December 13-14, with CME Group's FedWatch Tool currently indicating a 77.0 percent chance of a 50-basis point rate hike and a 23.0 percent chance of a fifth straight 75-basis point rate hike.

In economic news, payroll processor ADP noted slower than expected private sector job growth in November, while the Commerce Department reported an unexpected upward revision to GDP growth in the third quarter.

Crude oil futures surged on Wednesday after data showed a steep drop in U.S. crude inventories last week. Expectations of increased demand from China and a weaker dollar also contributed to the jump in oil prices. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for January ended higher by $2.35 or 3 percent at $80.55 a barrel.