China Shares Overdue For Consolidation On Friday

(RTTNews) - The China stock market has finished higher in eight straight sessions, rallying more than 180 points or 5.9 percent in that span. The Shanghai Composite Index now rests just above the 3,280-point plateau, although investors may lock in gains on Friday.

The global forecast for the Asian markets is soft amid lingering uncertainty about U.S. President Donald Trump's tariffs. The European and U.S. markets finished mostly lower and the Asian bourses are expected to open in similar fashion.

The SCI finished slightly higher on Thursday following gains from the property stocks, weakness from the financials and a mixed picture from the resource companies.

For the day, the index rose 4.34 points or 0.13 percent to finish at 3,280.34 after trading between 3,258.15 and 3,285.92. The Shenzhen Composite Index perked 1.49 points or 0.08 percent to end at 1,880.40.

Among the actives, Industrial and Commercial Bank of China eased 0.14 percent, while China Merchants Bank fell 0.31 percent, Bank of Communications dropped 0.90 percent, China Life Insurance collected 0.55 percent, Jiangxi Copper added 0.48 percent, Yankuang Energy and Aluminum Corp of China (Chalco) both dipped 0.16 percent, PetroChina perked 0.13 percent, Huaneng Power climbed 1.13 percent, China Shenhua Energy shed 0.46 percent, Gemdale rallied 3.30 percent, Poly Developments soared 4.19 percent, China Vanke jumped 2.27 percent and Bank of China, Agricultural Bank of China and China Petroleum and Chemical (Sinopec) were unchanged.

The lead from Wall Street is weak as the major averages opened mixed on Thursday and finished largely the same way, with a downside bias.

The Doe slumped 527.16 points or 1.33 percent to finish at 39,142.23, while the NASDAQ dipped 20.71 points or 0.13 percent to close at 16,286.45 and the S&P 500 rose 7.00 points or 0.13 percent to end at 5,282.70.

The markets are closed for Good Friday; for the holiday-shortened week, the S&P retreated 1.5 percent, the NASDAQ stumbled 2.6 percent and the Dow declined 2.7 percent.

The steep drop by the Dow reflected a nosedive by shares of UnitedHealth (UNH), which plummeted 22.4 percent after the company reported weaker than expected first quarter earnings and cut its full-year profit forecast.

In economic news, the Labor Department noted a modest decrease by first-time claims for U.S. unemployment benefits last week. Also, the Commerce Department said new residential construction in the U.S. pulled back much more than expected in March.

Crude oil futures moved sharply higher on Thursday amid ongoing concerns about sanctions on Iranian oil exports. West Texas Intermediate crude for May delivery spiked $2.21 or 3.5 percent to $64.68 a barrel.