Rally May Stall For China Stock Market

(RTTNews) - The China stock market has tracked higher in three straight sessions, collecting more than 95 points or 2.8 percent along the way. The Shanghai Composite Index now sits just above the 3,455-point plateau although it's due for consolidation on Thursday.

The global forecast for the Asian markets suggests little movement as geopolitical concerns appear to have taken a breather. The European markets were down and the U.S. bourses were mixed and flat and the Asian markets figure to split the difference.

The SCI finished sharply higher on Wednesday following gains from the financial shares, property stocks and resource companies.

For the day, the index gained 35.41 points or 1.04 percent to finish at 3,455.97 after trading between 3,417.41 and 3,459.01. The Shenzhen Composite Index jumped 28.54 points or 1.41 percent to end at 2,051.86.

Among the actives, Industrial and Commercial Bank of China added 0.52 percent, while Bank of China gained 1.05 percent, Agricultural Bank of China climbed 1.01 percent, China Merchants Bank soared 1.60 percent, Bank of Communications spiked 1.59 percent, China Life Insurance rallied 2.36 percent, Jiangxi Copper advanced 0.96 percent, Aluminum Corp of China (Chalco) slid 0.29 percent, Yankuang Energy eased 0.08 percent, PetroChina fell 0.23 percent, China Petroleum and Chemical (Sinopec) perked 0.18 percent, Huaneng Power jumped 1.95 percent, China Shenhua Energy improved 0.75 percent, Gemdale strengthened 1.35 percent, Poly Developments climbed 1.00 percent and China Vanke accelerated 1.26 percent.

The lead from Wall Street offers little guidance as the major averages opened mixed and spent the whole day hugging the line before ending little changed.

The Dow dropped 106.59 points or 0.25 percent to finish at 42,982.43, while the NASDAQ added 61.02 points or 0.31 percent to close at 19,973.55 and the S&P 500 eased 0.02 points or 0.00 percent to end at 6,092.16.

The initial strength on Wall Street reflected recent upward momentum, which saw stocks move sharply higher over the two previous sessions.

Buying interest waned shortly after the start of trading, however, as traders continue to monitor developments in the Middle East following yesterday's news of a ceasefire between Israel and Iran. The subsequent pullback likely was profit taking after the major averages reached their highest intraday levels in four months.

In U.S. economic news, a report released by the Commerce Department showed a substantial pullback by new home sales in the U.S. in May.

Crude oil prices moved higher on Wednesday as an EIA report indicated a draw in crude oil inventories and a surge in U.S. gasoline demand to a three-and-a-half-year high. West Texas Intermediate crude oil for August delivery closed up by $0.55 to settle at $64.92 per barrel.