Higher Open Predicted For China Stock Market

(RTTNews) - The China stock market has moved higher in two straight sessions, collecting almost 10 points or 0.3 percent along the way. The Shanghai Composite Index now sits just above the 3,030-point plateau and it's expected to open in the green again on Monday.

The global forecast for the Asian markets is positive on growing optimism over the outlook for interest rates. The European and U.S. markets were solidly higher and the Asian bourses are expected to open in similar fashion.

The SCI finished slightly higher on Friday following mixed performances from the financial shares, property stocks and resource companies.

For the day, the index rose 1.97 points or 0.06 percent to finish at 3,031.64 after trading between 3,010.23 and 3,035.76. The Shenzhen Composite Index added 4.77 points or 0.25 percent to end at 1,887.98.

Among the actives, Bank of China rallied 1.25 percent, while China Construction Bank fell 0.31 percent, China Merchants Bank tumbled 1.84 percent, Bank of Communications skidded 1.03 percent, China Life Insurance collected 0.53 percent, Jiangxi Copper lost 0.34 percent, Aluminum Corp of China (Chalco) advanced 0.90 percent, Yankuang Energy added 0.58 percent, China Petroleum and Chemical (Sinopec) sank 0.55 percent, Huaneng Power shed 0.65 percent, China Shenhua Energy perked 0.06 percent, Gemdale spiked 2.73 percent, Poly Developments eased 0.10 percent, China Vanke slumped 0.35 percent and Industrial and Commercial Bank of China and PetroChina were unchanged.

The lead from Wall Street is upbeat as the major averages shook off early weakness on Friday, quickly moving firmly into the green and staying that way for the remainder of the session.

The Dow spiked 294.61 points or 0.82 percent to finish at 36,245.50, while the NASDAQ rallied 78.83 points or 0.55 percent to close at 14,305.03 and the S&P 500 added 26.83 points or 0.59 percent to end at 4,594.63.

For the week, the Dow surged 2.4 percent, the S&P 500 increased 0.8 percent and the NASDAQ rose 0.4 percent.

The strength on Wall Street reflected ongoing optimism about the outlook for interest rates following a report from the Institute for Supply Management showing continued contraction in U.S. manufacturing activity last month.

Some analysts suggested that the weaker-than-expected ISM survey may spur expectations that the Fed's next move is an interest rate cut.

Crude oil prices fell sharply on Friday, extending losses from the previous session amid mounting skepticism over OPEC output cuts. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for January ended lower by $1.89 or 2.5 percent at $74.07 a barrel. Oil prices have now fallen in six straight weeks.