China Shares May Find Traction On Thursday

(RTTNews) - The China stock market has moved lower in two straight sessions, sinking almost 20 points or 0.5 percent along the way. The Shanghai Composite Index now sits just above the 4,000-point plateau although it figures to move back to the upside on Thursday.

The global forecast for the Asian markets is upbeat on optimism over the end of the U.S. government shutdown. The European markets were up and the U.S. bourses were mixed and the Asian markets figure to split the difference.

The SCI finished barely lower on Wednesday following weakness from the properties, gains from the financials and a mixed picture from the resource stocks.

For the day, the index dipped 2.62 points or 0.07 percent to finish at 4,000.14 after trading between 3,980.68 and 4,020.38. The Shenzhen Composite Index fell 9.74 points or 0.39 percent to end at 2,507.84.

Among the actives, Industrial and Commercial Bank of China added 0.37 percent, while Bank of China strengthened 1.41 percent, Agricultural Bank of China vaulted 3.49 percent, China Merchants Bank eased 0.07 percent, Bank of Communications improved 0.81 percent, China Life Insurance rallied 1.99 percent, Jiangxi Copper slumped 0.64 percent, Aluminum Corp of China (Chalco) soared 4.14 percent, Yankuang Energy retreated 1.39 percent, PetroChina jumped 1.74 percent, China Petroleum and Chemical (Sinopec) improved 0.71 percent, Huaneng Power sank 0.49 percent, China Shenhua Energy lost 0.47 percent, Gemdale shed 0.50 percent, Poly Developments slid 0.27 percent and China Vanke fell 0.32 percent.

The lead from Wall Street is contradictory as the major averages opened higher on Wednesday but took different paths to finish mixed and little changed.

The Dow jumped 326.86 points or 0.68 percent to finish at 48,254.82, while the NASDAQ slipped 61.84 points or 0.26 percent to close at 23,406.46 and the S&P 500 rose 4.31 points or 0.06 percent to end at 6,850.92.

The continued advance by the Dow came amid strong gains by UnitedHealth (UNH), Goldman Sachs (GS) and Cisco Systems (CSCO). But continued decline by the tech-heavy NASDAQ reflected lingering valuation concerns.

Traders also kept an eye on developments in Washington, where the House of Representatives will vote on a bill ending the longest government shutdown in U.S. history.

After the Senate voted Monday to approve the bill extending funding for most agencies until January 30, the House is set to vote on the legislation within the next few hours.

Crude oil prices plummeted on Wednesday after OPEC's monthly report suggested that global supply now exceeds demand by about 500,000 barrels per day. West Texas Intermediate crude for December delivery was down $2.62 or 4.31 percent at $58.40 per barrel.