Renewed Selling Pressure Likely For China Shares

(RTTNews) - The China stock market on Wednesday snapped the two-day slide in which it had slipped almost 15 points or 0.5 percent. The Shanghai Composite Index now sits just above the 3,325-point plateau although it's expected to head south again on Thursday.

The global forecast for the Asian markets is soft on concerns over interest rates and the economy. The European markets were up and the U.S. bourses were down and the Asian markets are tipped to follow the latter lead.

The SCI finished modestly higher on Wednesday following gains from the financials, resource stocks and energy companies.

For the day, the index gained 13.61 point or 0.41 percent to finish at 3,327.18 after trading between 3,315.40 and 3,330.71. The Shenzhen Composite Index rose 7.68 points or 0.36 percent to end at 2,147.16.

Among the actives, Industrial and Commercial Bank of China strengthened 1.32 percent, while Bank of China gained 0.87 percent, China Minsheng Bank gathered 0.58 percent, China Construction Bank jumped 1.48 percent, China Merchants Bank increased 0.03 percent, Bank of Communications improved 1.15 percent, China Life Insurance collected 0.81 percent, Ping An Insurance dipped 0.13 percent, Jiangxi Copper surged 3.85 percent, Aluminum Corp of China (Chalco) soared 3.33 percent, Yankuang Energy advanced 0.85 percent, PetroChina spiked 4.12 percent, China Petroleum and Chemical (Sinopec) rallied 2.67 percent, Huaneng Power retreated 1.69 percent, China Shenhua Energy climbed 0.98 percent, Gemdale perked 0.11 percent, Poly Developments shed 0.46 percent, China Vanke was up 0.06 percent, Beijing Capital Development added 0.62 percent and China Fortune Land was unchanged.

The lead from Wall Street is negative as the major averages opened higher on Wednesday and bounced back and forth across the unchanged line before finally settling in the red.

The Dow shed 38.29 points or 0.11 percent to finish at 33,646.50, while the NASDAQ slumped 102.54 points or 0.85 percent to end at 11,929.34 and the S&P 500 lost 16.99 points or 0.41 percent to close at 4,091.95.

Stocks initially benefited from a positive reaction to a Labor Department report showing U.S. consumer prices increased by less than expected in the month of March.

Stocks turned lower over the course of the morning, however, as many economists said they still expect the Federal Reserve to raise interest rates by another quarter point early next month.

While buying interest reemerged later in the session, stocks moved back to the downside after the minutes of the latest Fed meeting suggested the recent banking sector turmoil could lead to a recession.

Crude oil prices moved spiked on Wednesday as tamer-than-expected inflation data contributed to an extended pullback in the value of the U.S. dollar. West Texas Intermediate for May delivery shot up $1.73 or 2.1 percent to $83.26 a barrel.

Closer to home, China will provide March numbers for imports, exports and trade balance later this morning. Imports are expected to sink 5.0 percent on year after slumping 10.2 percent in February, Exports are called lower by an annual 7.0 percent after slipping 6.8 percent in the previous month. The trade surplus is pegged at $39.20 billion, down from 116.88 billion a month earlier.