China Stock Market May Add To Its Winnings On Friday

(RTTNews) - The China stock market has moved higher in two of three trading days since the end of the two-day slide in which it had fallen more than 30 points or 1 percent. The Shanghai Composite Index now sits just beneath the 3,030-point plateau and it's expected to open in the green again on Friday.

The global forecast for the Asian markets is mostly positive, although technology companies may fall under pressure. The European markets were up and the U.S. bourses were mostly higher and the Asian markets also figure to move into the green.

The SCI finished modestly higher on Thursday as gains from the financials and oil companies were capped by weakness from the resource companies and properties.

For the day, the index added 7.99 points or 0.26 percent to finish at 3,029.67 after trading between 3,013.77 and 3,030.91. The Shenzhen Composite Index slipped 6.64 points or 0.35 percent to end at 1,883.21.

Among the actives, Industrial and Commercial Bank of China collected 0.84 percent, while Bank of China rose 0.25 percent, China Construction Bank advanced 0.95 percent, China Merchants Bank eased 0.03 percent, Bank of Communications spiked 2.10 percent, China Life Insurance perked 0.20 percent, Jiangxi Copper shed 0.51 percent, Aluminum Corp of China (Chalco) dropped 0.89 percent, Yankuang Energy fell 0.24 percent, PetroChina jumped 1.70 percent, China Petroleum and Chemical (Sinopec) strengthened 1.30 percent, Huaneng Power surged 4.61 percent, China Shenhua Energy climbed 1.03 percent, Gemdale lost 0.39 percent, Poly Developments sank 0.87 percent and China Vanke dipped 0.17 percent.

The lead from Wall Street is inconsistent as the major averages opened higher on Thursday, with the Dow remaining solidly in the green throughout the session. The NASDAQ quickly turned lower and stayed in the red, while the S&P also fell into negative territory but staged a late rally into positive territory.

The Dow surged 520.47 points or 1.47 percent to finish at 35,950.89, while the NASDAQ slumped 32.27 points or 0.23 percent to close at 14,226.22 and the S&P 500 added 17.22 points or 0.38 percent to end at 4,567.80.

The surge by the Dow was due in large part to a spike by shares of Salesforce (CRM), with the cloud software company soaring by 9.4 percent after it reported better than expected fiscal third quarter earnings and provided upbeat guidance.

Meanwhile, the decrease by the NASDAQ came amid a rebound by treasury yields, as the yield on the benchmark ten-year note bounced off its lowest levels in over two months.

In economic news, the Commerce Department reported that consumer price growth in the U.S. slowed in line with estimates in October.

Oil prices tumbled on Thursday despite an announcement from OPEC that members have agreed to voluntarily output cuts for the first quarter of 2024. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures ended lower by $1.90 or 2.4 percent at $75.96 a barrel.