Higher Open Seen For China Stock Market

(RTTNews) - The China stock market on Friday ended the two-day winning streak in which it had climbed more than 50 points or 1.2 percent. The Shanghai Composite Index now sits beneath the 3,840-point plateau although it's expected to move back to the upside again on Monday.

The global forecast for the European markets is cautiously optimistic on easing economic tensions between the United States and China. The European markets were down and the U.S. bourses were up and the Asian markets figure to follow the latter lead.

The SCI finished sharply lower on Friday following losses from the financial shares, property stocks and resource companies.

For the day, the index surrendered 76.47 points or 1.95 percent to finish at 3,839.76 after trading between 3,835.36 and 3,921.06. The Shenzhen Composite Index tumbled 67.03 points or 2.72 percent to end at 2,396.92.

Among the actives, Industrial and Commercial Bank of China was down 0.13 percent, while Bank of China slumped 0.74 percent, Agricultural Bank of China jumped 1.74 percent, China Merchants Bank lost 0.81 percent, Bank of Communications fell 0.29 percent, China Life Insurance plunged 4.11 percent, Jiangxi Copper tanked 2.96 percent, Aluminum Corp of China (Chalco) declined 1.51 percent, Yankuang Energy jumped 1.55 percent, PetroChina eased 0.24 percent, China Petroleum and Chemical (Sinopec) sank 0.73 percent, China Shenhua Energy dipped 0.26 percent, Gemdale tumbled 1.91 percent, Poly Developments dropped 0.90 percent, China Vanke retreated 1.25 percent and Huaneng Power was unchanged.

The lead from Wall Street is positive as the major averages opened lower on Friday and hugged the line before rallying midday to finish solidly in the green.

The Dow jumped 238.41 points or 0.52 percent to finish at 46,190.61, while the NASDAQ climbed 117.47 points or 0.52 percent to end at 22,679.97 and the S&P 500 added 34.94 points or 0.53 percent to close at 6,664.01.

The strength that emerged on Wall Street came as the concerns about bad loans that dragged the markets lower on Thursday seemed to evaporate as quickly as they materialized.

Stocks also benefited from easing concerns about the trade dispute between the U.S. and China following comments from President Donald Trump, who admitted that the high tariffs he threatened to impose on China are probably not sustainable.

Crude oil prices rose on Friday after Trump suddenly reversed his hardline stance on China, suggesting warmer trade relations could lead to an increase in energy demand. West Texas Intermediate crude for November delivery was up by $0.20 or 0.35 percent at $57.66 per barrel.

Closer to home, China is scheduled to release Q3 figures for GDP and September data for industrial production, retail sales, fixed asset investment and unemployment later this morning.

GDP is expected to rise 0.8 percent on quarter and 4.7 percent on year, easing from 1.1 percent on quarter and 5.2 percent on year in Q2. Industrial production is tipped to rise 5.0 percent on year, down from 5.2 percent in August. Sales are seen higher by an annual 2.9 percent, down from 3.4 percent in the previous month. FAI is expected to rise 0.2 percent on year, down from 0.5 percent a month earlier. The jobless rate is seen steady at 5.3 percent.