Renewed Support Anticipated For China Stock Market

(RTTNews) - The China stock market on Thursday halted the three-day winning streak in which it had jumped almost 65 points or 1.9 percent. The Shanghai Composite Index now rests just above the 3,380-point plateau and it's tipped to open in the green on Friday.

The global forecast for the Asian markets is upbeat on easing inflation and tariff concerns. The European markets were up and the U.S. bourses were mostly higher and the Asian markets figure to follow that lead.

The SCI finished modestly lower on Thursday following from the properties and resource stocks, while the financial sector came in mixed.

For the day, the index shed 23.13 points or 0.68 percent to finish at 3,380.82 after trading between 3,378.02 and 3,402.87. The Shenzhen Composite Index slumped 27.64 points or 1.37 percent to end at 1,982.94.

Among the actives, Industrial and Commercial Bank of China gained 0.55 percent, while Bank of China eased 0.18 percent, Agricultural Bank of China added 0.35 percent, China Merchants Bank collected 0.25 percent, Bank of Communications fell 0.52 percent, China Life Insurance declined 1.63 percent, Jiangxi Copper stumbled 1.71 percent, Aluminum Corp of China (Chalco) skidded 1.18 percent, Yankuang Energy lost 0.69 percent, PetroChina shed 0.60 percent, China Petroleum and Chemical (Sinopec) sank 0.86 percent, Huaneng Power strengthened 1.21 percent, China Shenhua Energy jumped 1.99 percent, Gemdale tumbled 1.91 percent, Poly Developments slumped 1.20 percent and China Vanke retreated 1.45 percent.

The lead from Wall Street is mostly positive as the major averages opened in the red on Thursday but rallied to finish mixed.

The Dow jumped 271.69 points or 0.65 percent to finish at 42,322.75, while the NASDAQ dipped 34.49 points or 0.18 percent to close at 19,112.32 and the S&P 500 added 24.35 points or 0.41 percent to end at 5,916.93.

The choppy trading on day came as traders digested an avalanche of U.S. economic data, including a Labor Department report showing producer prices unexpectedly decreased in the month of April.

Another report from the Commerce Department showed a slight increase by U.S. retail sales in April. Meanwhile, the Federal Reserve said industrial production in the U.S. was unchanged in the month of April.

Crude oil futures showed a substantial move to the downside on Thursday on reports the U.S. is very close to reaching a nuclear deal with Iran. Crude for June delivery plunged $1.53 or 2.4 percent to $61.62 a barrel.