Lower Open Predicted For China Stock Market

(RTTNews) - The China stock market has moved lower in consecutive trading days, shedding more than 40 points or 1.2 percent along the way. The Shanghai Composite Index now sits just beneath the 3,360-point plateau and it's expected to open under water again on Friday.

The global forecast for the Asian markets is soft thanks to ongoing tariff concerns and their effect on the world economy. The European and U.S. markets were down and the Asian bourses are expected to follow that lead.

The SCI finished modestly lower on Thursday as losses from the properties and insurance companies were mitigated by support from the financials and resource stocks.

For the day, the index fell 13.20 points or 0.39 percent to finish at 3,358.73 after trading between 3,341.12 and 3,377.12. The Shenzhen Composite Index slumped 23.43 points or 1.12 percent to end at 2,066.95.

Among the actives, Industrial and Commercial Bank of China was up 0.15 percent, while China Construction Bank perked 0.12 percent, China Merchants Bank added 0.69 percent, Agricultural Bank of China collected 0.59 percent, China Life Insurance eased 0.16 percent, Jiangxi Copper rose 0.32 percent, Aluminum Corp of China (Chalco) improved 0.78 percent, Yankuang Energy accelerated 2.55 percent, PetroChina jumped 1.96 percent, China Petroleum and Chemical (Sinopec) climbed 1.24 percent, Huaneng Power strengthened 1.49 percent, China Shenhua Energy rallied 3.59 percent, Gemdale slumped 1.28 percent, Poly Developments shed 0.47 percent, China Vanke retreated 1.21 percent and Bank of China was unchanged.

The lead from Wall Street is negative as the major averages opened in the red and continued to track lower throughout the session.

The Dow tumbled 537.36 points or 1.30 percent to finish at 40,813.57, while the NASDAQ dropped 345.44 points or 1.96 percent to close at 17.303.01 and the S&P 500 sank 77.78 points or 1.39 percent to end at 5,521.52.

The sell-off on Wall Street came amid ongoing concerns about President Donald Trump's trade policies after he suggested the U.S. would respond to the European Union's countermeasures with even more tariffs.

In economic news, the Labor Department said producer prices in the U.S. were unexpectedly flat in February. Also, the Labor Department unexpectedly saw a modest decrease by first-time claims for U.S. unemployment benefits last week.

Oil prices fell on Thursday amid prospects of excess supply in the market, and on concerns about the outlook for demand. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for April ended lower by $1.13 or 1.7 percent at $66.55 a barrel.