Disappointing Stimulus May Weigh On China Shares

(RTTNews) - The China stock market has moved lower in two of three trading days since the end of the two-day winning streak in which it had spiked more than 110 points or 3.3 percent. The Shanghai Composite now sits just above the 3,450-point plateau and it may open under pressure again on Monday.

The global forecast for the Asian markets is mixed as countries weigh the results of the U.S. elections. The European markets were down and the U.S. bourses were up and the Asian markets figure to split the difference.

The SCI finished modestly lower on Friday following losses among the financial shares, property stocks and resource and energy companies.

For the day, the index shed 18.36 points or 0.53 percent to finish at 3,452.30 after trading between 3,443.19 and 3,509.82. The Shenzhen Composite Index slipped 6.02 points or 0.29 percent to end at 2,094.69.

Among the actives, Industrial and Commercial Bank of China lost 0.65 percent, while Bank of China declined 1.22 percent, China Construction Bank skidded 0.99 percent, China Merchants Bank tumbled 1.95 percent, Agricultural Bank of China dropped 0.83 percent, China Life Insurance fell 0.31 percent, Jiangxi Copper shed 0.56 percent, Aluminum Corp of China (Chalco) rose 0.24 percent, Yankuang Energy eased 0.06 percent, PetroChina slumped 1.20 percent, China Petroleum and Chemical (Sinopec) sank 0.78 percent, Huaneng Power slipped 0.41 percent, China Shenhua Energy retreated 1.52 percent, Gemdale plummeted 5.77 percent, Poly Developments plunged 4.03 percent and China Vanke tanked 3.84 percent.

The lead from Wall Street is positive as the major averages opened higher on Friday and all finished with modest gains to fresh record closing highs.

The Dow jumped 259.65 points or 0.59 percent to finish at 43,988.99, while the NASDAQ rose 17.32 points or 0.09 percent to close at 19,286.78 and the S&P 500 added 22.44 points or 0.38 percent to end at 5,995.54.

For the week, the tech-heavy NASDAQ soared 5.7 percent, while the S&P 500 spiked 4.7 percent and the Dow rallied 4.6 percent.

Stocks continued to benefit from a positive reaction to former President Donald Trump's decisive victory in the U.S. presidential election, which is expected to be positive for corporations.

Traders also continued to digest the Federal Reserve's widely expected decision on Thursday to lower interest rates by a quarter-point. But Fed Chair Jerome Powell stressed that rates are not on any preset course and the central bank will make future decisions meeting by meeting.

Oil prices fell sharply Friday on concerns about the outlook for demand due to data showing a drop in China's oil imports, and disappointment over the size of China's fresh stimulus measures. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for December sank $1.98 or 2.7 percent at $70.38 a barrel; the contract gained 1 percent in the week.