Losing Streak May Continue For China Stock Market

(RTTNews) - The China stock market has closed lower in six straight sessions, falling more than 120 points or 4.1 percent along the way. The Shanghai Composite Index now rests just beneath the 3,055-point plateau and it's tipped to open under pressure again on Friday.

The global forecast for the Asian markets is soft on continuing concerns over the health of the world economy. The European and U.S. markets were sharply lower and the Asian markets are expected to follow that lead.

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

For the day, the index fell 13.98 points or 0.46 percent to finish at 3,054.43 after trading between 3,044.60 and 3,096.24. The Shenzhen Composite Index dropped 14.21 points or 0.72 percent to end at 1,955.58.

Among the actives, Industrial and Commercial Bank of China collected 0.47 percent, while Bank of China and Bank of Communications both added 0.64 percent, China Construction Bank eased 0.18 percent, China Merchants Bank strengthened 1.53 percent, China Life Insurance climbed 1.13 percent, Jiangxi Copper retreated 1.35 percent, Aluminum Corp of China (Chalco) dropped 0.88 percent, Yankuang Energy plummeted 3.74 percent, PetroChina perked 0.20 percent, Huaneng Power tanked 2.80 percent, China Shenhua Energy sank 0.76 percent, Gemdale skidded 0.95 percent, Poly Developments gained 0.52 percent, China Vanke was up 0.16 percent, Beijing Capital Development declined 1.21 percent and China Fortune Land and China Petroleum and Chemical (Sinopec) were unchanged.

The lead from Wall Street is broadly negative as the major averages opened deep in the red and the losses accelerated as the day progressed.

The Dow tumbled 348.99 points or 1.05 percent to finish at 33,037.49, while the NASDAQ plunged 233.25 points or 2.18 percent to close at 10,476.12 and the S&P 500 dropped 56.05 points or 1.45 percent to end at 3,822.39.

The pullback on Wall Street came as some traders cashed in on Wednesday's gains amid ongoing concerns about the outlook for interest rates and the global economy.

Stocks saw further downside following the release of a report from the Conference Board showing a continued slump by its reading on leading U.S. economic indicators in the month of November.

Crude oil futures pared early gains and settled lower on Thursday, snapping a three-day winning streak as the dollar advanced on rate hike bets. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for February ended $0.80 lower at $77.49 a barrel, falling from a high of $79.90 a barrel.