Higher Open Anticipated For China Stock Market

(RTTNews) - The China stock market bounced higher again on Thursday, one day after ending the two-day winning streak in which it had advanced more than a dozen points or 0.4 percent. The Shanghai Composite Index now rests just above the 2,845-point plateau and it's predicted to open in the green again on Friday.

The global forecast for the Asian markets is upbeat, with technology and oil companies expected to lead the way higher. The European and U.S. markets were up and the Asian bourses are expected to follow that lead.

The SCI finished modestly higher on Thursday following gains from the property stocks and mixed performance from the finance, energy and resource companies.

For the day, the index added 12.17 points or 0.43 percent to finish at 2,845.78 after trading between 2,760.98 and 2,849.26. The Shenzhen Composite Index rose 3.76 points or 0.22 percent to end at 1,702.45.

Among the actives, Industrial and Commercial Bank of China rose 0.21 percent, while Bank of China shed 0.50 percent, China Construction Bank lost 0.46 percent, China Merchants Bank collected 1.34 percent, Bank of Communications dipped 0.17 percent, China Life Insurance advanced 0.93 percent, Jiangxi Copper dropped 0.85 percent, Aluminum Corp of China (Chalco) fell 0.56 percent, Yankuang Energy perked 0.09 percent, PetroChina eased 0.14 percent, China Petroleum and Chemical (Sinopec) sank 0.93 percent, Huaneng Power retreated 1.29 percent, China Shenhua Energy slid 0.21 percent, Gemdale rallied 1.49 percent, Poly Developments jumped 1.96 percent and China Vanke gained 0.64 percent.

The lead from Wall Street is positive as the major averages opened mixed on Thursday but all ended up firmly in the green by the day's end.

The Dow advanced 201.94 points or 0.54 percent to finish at 37,468.61, while the NASDAQ rallied 200.03 points or 1.35 percent to close at 15,055.65 and the S&P 500 gained 41.73 points or 0.88 percent to end at 4,780.94.

The rebound on Wall Street came despite a continued increase by treasury yields, which moved higher after the Labor Department noted an unexpected weekly decrease in first-time claims for U.S. unemployment benefits.

Tech stocks helped lead the way higher on Wall Street, with shares of Apple (AAPL) jumping 3.3 percent after Bank of America upgraded its rating on the company's stock to Buy from Neutral.

A rally by semiconductor stocks also contributed to the surge by the NASDAQ as the Philadelphia Semiconductor Index spiked by 3.4 percent. Networking, computer hardware and software stocks also showed notable moves to the upside.

Oil prices climbed higher Thursday, lifted by data showing a drop in U.S. crude inventories last week, and on higher forecasts for global demand. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for February rallied $1.52 at $74.08 a barrel.