China Bourse May Hand Back Wednesday's Gains

(RTTNews) - The China stock market has alternated between positive and negative finishes through the last seven trading days since the end of the three-day slide in which it had fallen more than 30 points or 1 percent. The Shanghai Composite Index now sits just above the 3,070-point plateau although it may turn lower again on Thursday.

The global forecast for thew Asian markets is mixed to lower, with oil and technology stocks likely to weigh. The European markets were up and the U.S. bourses were down 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 surged 64.31 points or 2.14 percent to finish at the daily high of 3,071.38 after trading between 3,002.06. The Shenzhen Composite Index rallied 62.31 points or 3.80 percent to end at 1,700.75.

Among the actives, Industrial and Commercial Bank of China collected 0.55 percent, while Bank of China rose 0.43 percent, China Construction Bank strengthened 1.53 percent, China Merchants Bank jumped 1.68 percent, Bank of Communications advanced 0.90 percent, China Life Insurance rallied 1.58 percent, Jiangxi Copper soared 3.09 percent, Aluminum Corp of China (Chalco) surged 3.91 percent, Yankuang Energy gained 0.47 percent, PetroChina perked 0.28 percent, China Petroleum and Chemical (Sinopec) sank 0.60 percent, Huaneng Power climbed 1.31 percent, China Shenhua Energy gathered 0.48 percent, Gemdale spiked 2.81 percent, Poly Developments accelerated 1.00 percent and China Vanke was up 0.42 percent.

The lead from Wall Street is soft as the major averages opened higher on Wednesday but quickly turned lower, spending most of the rest of the day in the red.

The Dow shed 45.66 points or 0.12 percent to finish at 37,753.31, while the NASDAQ tumbled 181.88 points or 1.15 percent to end at 15,683.37 and the S&P 500 sank 29.20 points or 0.58 percent to close at 5,022.21.

The lower close on Wall Street came on concerns about the outlook for interest rates following remarks by Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell, who suggested rates are likely to remain higher for longer amid a "lack of progress" toward reaching the central bank's inflation goal.

Weakness among technology stocks weighed on the tech-heavy NASDAQ as shares of Nvidia (NVDA) came under pressure, while the Philadelphia Semiconductor Index also slumped.

Crude oil prices tumbled on Wednesday, adding to modest losses in the two previous sessions after data showed a surge in U.S. crude oil inventories. West Texas Intermediate crude for May delivery plunged $2.67 or 3.1 percent to $82.69 a barrel.