Soft Start Anticipated For China Stock Market

(RTTNews) - The China stock market has alternated between positive and negative finishes through the last four trading days since the end of the two-day losing streak in which it had slipped almost 50 points or 0.8 percent. The Shanghai Composite Index now rests just above the 3,260-point plateau and it may spin its wheels again on Monday.

The global forecast for the Asian markets is mixed to lower thanks to continuing concerns over the outlook for interest rates. The European markets were down and the U.S. bourses were mixed and the Asian markets are expected to split the difference.

The SCI finished modestly lower on Friday following losses from the resource stocks and mixed performances from the financial shares and properties.

For the day, the index fell 9.71 points or 0.30 percent to finish at 3,260.67 after trading between 3,247.23 and 3,269.99. The Shenzhen Composite Index dropped 9.49 points or 0.44 percent to end at 2,164.72.

Among the actives, Industrial and Commercial Bank of China rose 0.23 percent, while Bank of China collected 0.62 percent, China Merchants Bank dropped 0.86 percent, Bank of Communications added 0.41 percent, China Life Insurance perked 0.15 percent, Jiangxi Copper retreated 1.36 percent, Aluminum Corp of China (Chalco) skidded 1.13 percent, Yankuang Energy tanked 2.46 percent, PetroChina shed 0.58 percent, China Petroleum and Chemical (Sinopec) dipped 0.22 percent, Huaneng Power spiked 2.52 percent, China Shenhua Energy slumped 1.18 percent, Gemdale jumped 1.88 percent, Poly Developments improved 0.64 percent, China Fortune Land was down 0.37 percent and China Vanke and China Construction Bank were unchanged.

The lead from Wall Street is inconsistent as the major averages opened lower on Friday, although only the NASDAQ ended the session in the red.

The Dow climbed 169.37 points or 0.50 percent to finish at 33,869.27, while the NASDAQ sank 71.48 points or 061 percent to end at 11,718.12 and the S&P 500 rose 8.96 points or 0.22 percent to close at 4,090.46.

For the week, the NASSDAQ tumbled 2.4 percent, the S&P lost 1.1 percent and the Dow dipped 0.2 percent.

The choppy trading on Wall Street reflected lingering uncertainty about the outlook for interest rates ahead of this week's closely watched inflation data.

Traders also reacted to mixed February consumer sentiment data released by the University of Michigan. While consumer sentiment saw a continued improvement in February, the report also showed a rebound in near-term inflation expectations.

Crude oil futures settled sharply higher Friday on continued optimism about higher fuel demand from China, and on Russia's move to reduce oil output next month. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for March ended higher by $1.66 or 2.1 percent at $79.72 a barrel. WTI crude futures gained 9 percent in the week.