China Bourse May Add To Friday's Gains

(RTTNews) - The China stock market rebounded again on Friday, one day after halting the three-day winning streak in which it had picked up more than 70 points or 2.3 percent. The Shanghai Composite Index now sits just beneath the 3,135-point plateau and it's tipped to open in the green again on Monday.

The global forecast for the Asian markets is cautiously optimistic over the outlook for interest rates. The European and U.S. markets were mixed and little changed and the Asian bourses are tipped to follow that lead.

The SCI finished modestly higher on Friday following gains from the properties and resource stocks, while the financials came in mixed.

For the day, the index gained 13.37 points or 0.43 percent to finish at 3,133.25 after trading between 3,123.19 and 3,143.85. The Shenzhen Composite Index added 6.10 points or 0.31 percent to end at 1,953.58.

Among the actives, Industrial and Commercial Bank of China skidded 1.08 percent, while Bank of China slumped 1.07 percent, China Merchants Bank rallied 2.28 percent, Bank of Communications fell 0.36 percent, China Life Insurance surged 4.77 percent, Jiangxi Copper spiked 2.75 percent, Aluminum Corp of China (Chalco) soared 6.59 percent, Yankuang Energy skyrocketed 7.31 percent, PetroChina perked 0.13 percent, China Petroleum and Chemical (Sinopec) added 0.66 percent, Huaneng Power tumbled 1.72 percent, China Shenhua Energy accelerated 2.06 percent, Gemdale jumped 2.50 percent, Poly Developments strengthened 1.93 percent, China Vanke gained 3.01 percent and China Construction Bank was unchanged.

The lead from Wall Street is slightly higher as the major averages opened higher but quickly faded and hugged the unchanged line, finally ending mixed.

The Dow climbed 115.81 points or 0.33 percent to finish at 34,837.71, while the NASDAQ eased 3.19 points or 0.02 percent to close at 14,031.81 and the S&P 500 rose 8.11 points or 0.18 percent to end at 4,515.77. For the week, the NASDAQ spiked 3.3 percent, the S&P 500 surged 2.5 percent and the Dow jumped 1.4 percent.

The lackluster performance on Wall Street followed the release of a mixed employment from the Labor Department. While the closely watched report showed modestly stronger than expected job growth in August, the report also showed an unexpected increase in the unemployment rate.

The increase in the unemployment rate added to optimism about the Federal Reserve leaving interest rates unchanged later this month, but traders continued to express some uncertainty about future meetings.

In other economic news, the Institute for Supply Management reported a slowdown in the pace of contraction in U.S. manufacturing activity last month.

Crude oil showed another significant move to the upside during trading on Friday, extending recent gains over supply concerns. West Texas Intermediate crude for October delivery surged $1.92 or 2.3 percent to $85.55 a barrel, closing higher for the seventh straight session. The price of crude oil soared 7.2 percent for the week.