Little Movement Anticipated For China Stock Market

(RTTNews) - The China stock market on Thursday halted the three-day winning streak in which it had improved more than 35 points or 1.2 percent. The Shanghai Composite Index now rests just above the 3,050-point plateau and it may spin its wheels again on Friday.

The global forecast for the Asian markets is murky, with growth concerns warring with interest rate optimism. The European and U.S. markets were mixed and little changed and the Asian bourses figure to open in similar fashion.

The SCI finished modestly lower on Thursday following losses from the resource stocks and properties, while the financials were mixed.

For the day, the index sank 21.91 points or 0.71 percent to finish at the daily low of 3,050.93 after peaking at 3,071.45. The Shenzhen Composite Index dropped 19.28 points or 1.00 percent to end at 1,915.47.

Among the actives, Industrial and Commercial Bank of China rose 0.21 percent, while Bank of China added 0.51 percent, China Construction Bank collected 0.63 percent, China Merchants Bank fell 0.33 percent, Bank of Communications perked 0.17 percent, China Life Insurance dropped 0.97 percent, Jiangxi Copper skidded 1.11 percent, Aluminum Corp of China (Chalco) retreated 1.36 percent, Yankuang Energy rallied 1.22 percent, PetroChina lost 0.70 percent, China Petroleum and Chemical (Sinopec) sank 0.90 percent, Huaneng Power gained 0.26 percent, China Shenhua Energy was up 0.10 percent, Gemdale shed 0.36 percent, Poly Developments slumped 0.82 percent and China Vanke declined 0.76 percent.

The lead from Wall Street offers little clarity as the major averages opened lower on Thursday and spent most of the day in the red before finishing mixed and little changed.

The Dow dipped 45.74 points or 0.13 percent to finish at 34,945.47, while the NASDAQ rose 9.84 points or 0.07 percent to close at 14,113.67 and the S&P 500 perked 5.36 points or 0.12 percent to end at 4,508.24.

A steep drop by shares of Walmart (WMT) and Cisco Systems (CSCO) weighed on the Dow, while upticks by the NASDAQ and S&P came as the latest U.S. economic data added to recent optimism about the outlook for interest rates.

The Labor Department released a report showing U.S. import and export prices both fell by more than expected in the month of October, capping off an encouraging week of inflation data.

A separate Labor Department report showing initial jobless claims climbed by much more than expected last week, while the Federal Reserve said industrial production fell more than expected in October.

Crude oil prices fell sharply Thursday on fears of a likely drop in energy demand after soft data from the U.S., Europe and Asia raised worries about an economic slowdown. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for December tumbled $3.76 or 4.9 percent at $72.90 a barrel.