China Shares Tipped To Bounce Higher Again On Monday

(RTTNews) - The China stock market has finished lower in two of three trading days since the end of 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 2,830-point plateau although it's expected to see renewed support on Monday.

The global forecast for the Asian markets is upbeat on earnings expectations and news. The European markets were mixed and the U.S. markets were sharply higher and the Asian bourses are expected to follow the latter lead.

The SCI finished modestly lower on Friday following losses from the financials, resource stocks and power companies, while the properties were mixed.

For the day, the index slumped 13.50 points or 0.47 percent to finish at 2,832.28 after trading between 2,822.84 and 2,849.88. The Shenzhen Composite Index dropped 15.88 points or 0.93 percent to end at 1,686.58.

Among the actives, Industrial and Commercial Bank of China advanced 0.82 percent, while Bank of China skidded 1.00 percent, China Construction Bank shed 0.61 percent, China Merchants Bank collected 0.51 percent, Bank of Communications fell 0.35 percent, China Life Insurance lost 0.65 percent, Jiangxi Copper slid 0.46 percent, Aluminum Corp of China (Chalco) sank 0.57 percent, Yankuang Energy tanked 2.51 percent, PetroChina dropped 0.70 percent, China Petroleum and Chemical (Sinopec) improved 0.75 percent, Huaneng Power plunged 3.08 percent, China Shenhua Energy surrendered 2.41 percent, Gemdale slumped 0.49 percent, Poly Developments perked 0.34 percent and China Vanke was up 0.11 percent.

The lead from Wall Street is solid as the major averages opened slightly higher on Friday but accelerated throughout the day, sending the S&P and Dow to record closing highs.

The Dow jumped 395.20 points or 1.05 percent to finish at 37,863.80, while the NASDAQ surged 255.37 points or 1.70 percent to end at 15,310.97 and the S&P 500 rallied 58.87 points or 1.23 percent to close at 4,839.81.

For the holiday-shortened week, the NASDAQ soared 2.3 percent, the S&P 500 shot up 1.2 percent and the Dow advanced by 0.7 percent.

The run to record highs on Wall Street reflected continued strength among tech stocks ahead of this week's earning news from companies like Intel (INTC), IBM Corp. (IBM) and Netflix (NFLX).

Meanwhile, the Dow received a boost from a surge by shares of Travelers (TRV), with the insurance giant spiking by 6.7 after the company reported Q4 earnings that exceeded estimates.

Economic data also fueled the rally after the University of Michigan released a report showing a significant improvement in U.S. consumer sentiment and a continued decrease in inflation expectations.

Crude oil prices turned lower on Friday, reflecting profit taking after recent gains while traders also weighed concerns about Middle East tensions against uncertainty about the outlook for global demand. West Texas Intermediate Crude for February delivery fell $0.67 or 0.9 percent to $73.41 a barrel. The more actively trade March contract slumped $0.70 or 1.0 percent to $73.25 a barrel.