Lower Open Called For China Stock Market

(RTTNews) - The China stock market bounced higher again on Wednesday, one day after ending the three-day winning streak in which it had gained more than 75 points or 2.5 percent. The Shanghai Composite Index now rests just above the 2,965-point plateau although it's likely to see renewed selling pressure on Thursday.

The global forecast for the Asian markets is negative on concerns that the outlook for interest rates may have been too optimistic. The European and U.S. markets were down and the Asian bourses are expected to follow suit.

The SCI finished slightly higher on Wednesday following gains from the financial shares and energy companies.

For the day, the index rose 4.97 points or 0.17 percent to finish at 2,967.25 after trading between 2,953.29 and 2,971.28. The Shenzhen Composite Index lost 11.15 points or 0.61 percent to end at 1,812.71.

Among the actives, Industrial and Commercial Bank of China climbed 1.04 percent, while Bank of China advanced 1.00 percent, China Construction Bank rallied 1.07 percent, China Merchants Bank collected 0.69 percent, Bank of Communications strengthened 1.21 percent, China Life Insurance added 0.43 percent, Jiangxi Copper eased 0.06 percent, Aluminum Corp of China (Chalco) fell 0.35 percent, Yankuang Energy soared 3.02 percent, PetroChina spiked 1.96 percent, China Petroleum and Chemical (Sinopec) jumped 1.60 percent, Huaneng Power surged 4.12 percent, China Shenhua Energy accelerated 1.85 percent, Gemdale improved 1.89 percent, Poly Developments slid 0.21 percent and China Vanke eased 0.20 percent.

The lead from Wall Street is soft as the major averages opened lower on Wednesday and remained in the red throughout the session.

The Dow tumbled 284.85 points or 0.76 percent to finish at 37,430.19, while the NASDAQ dropped 173.73 points or 1.18 percent to close at 14,592.21 and the S&P 500 sank 38.02 points or 0.80 percent to end at 4,704.81.

The continued weakness on Wall Street partly reflected concerns investors have become too optimistic about the likelihood of near-term interest rate cuts.

Stocks saw some further downside as the minutes of the Federal Reserve's latest monetary policy meeting reiterated officials widely expect to begin lowering rates in 2024, but they also highlighted an "unusually elevated degree of uncertainty" about the outlook.

In economic news, the Institute for Supply Management said U.S. manufacturing activity contracted at a slightly slower rate in December. Also, the Labor Department said job openings in the U.S. edged down from an upwardly revised level in November.

The price of crude oil moved rebounded on Wednesday, regaining ground on concerns about further attacks by Houthi militants against ships in the Red Sea. West Texas Intermediate crude for February delivery surged $2.32 or 3.3 percent to $72.70 a barrel.