Lower Open Anticipated For China Stock Market

(RTTNews) - The China stock market has moved lower in back-to-back sessions, sliding almost 80 points or 2.6 percent along the way. The Shanghai Composite Index now rests just above the 3,000-point plateau and it's expected to extend its losses again on Friday.

The global forecast for the Asian markets is negative on rising concerns about the outlook for interest rates and ongoing geopolitical risks. The European and U.S. markets were down and the Asian bourses are expected to follow that lead.

The SCI finished sharply lower on Thursday with damage in all sectors, especially the finance, property and resource stocks.

For the day, the index tumbled 53.32 points or 1.74 percent to finish at 3,005.39 after trading between 3,004.77 and 3,043.20. The Shenzhen Composite Index dropped 28.03 points or 1.51 percent to end at 1,828.09.

Among the actives, Industrial and Commercial Bank of China tanked 2.03 percent, while Bank of China retreated 1.24 percent, China Construction Bank tumbled 1.93 percent, China Merchants Bank plunged 2.83 percent, Bank of Communications stumbled 1.85 percent, China Life Insurance plummeted 4.61 percent, Jiangxi Copper shed 0.61 percent, Aluminum Corp of China (Chalco) declined 1.49 percent, Yankuang Energy surrendered 2.94 percent, PetroChina sank 3.01 percent, China Petroleum and Chemical (Sinopec) dropped 2.20 percent, Huaneng Power slumped 1.21 percent, China Shenhua Energy fell 2.06 percent, Gemdale dipped 0.37 percent, Poly Developments was down 2.92 percent and China Vanke dove 2.13 percent.

The lead from Wall Street remains soft as the major averages opened slightly higher on Thursday, bounced back and forth across the unchanged line throughout the session before late weakness nudged them firmly into the red.

The Dow dropped 250.91 points or 0.75 percent to finish at 33,414.17, while the NASDAQ sank 128.13 points or 0.96 percent to end at 13,186.18 and the S&P 500 lost 36.60 points or 0.85 percent to close at 4,278.00.

The volatility on Wall Street came as Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell delivered highly anticipated remarks at an Economic Club of New York luncheon. Powell argued that inflation is "still too high" and warned additional monetary policy tightening may be needed.

Treasury yields moved higher following Powell's remarks, extending the upward trend seen over the past few sessions and once again reaching 16-year highs.

In economic news, the Labor Department said initial jobless claims unexpectedly declined to a nearly nine-month low last week.

Crude oil futures settled higher Thursday after early losses, as Israel reportedly prepared to move into Gaza to fight against Hamas. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for November added $1.05 or 1.2 percent at $89.37 a barrel.