China Stock Market May Add To Its Winnings On Friday

(RTTNews) - The China stock market on Thursday snapped the two-day losing streak in which it had fallen almost 20 points or 0.6 percent. The Shanghai Composite Index now rests just above the 3,125-point plateau and it may move higher again on Friday.

The global forecast for the Asian markets is positive thanks to encouraging economic data. The European and U.S. markets were firmly higher and the Asian markets are expected to follow that lead.

The SCI finished slightly higher on Thursday as gains from the financials and resource stocks were capped by weakness from the property sector.

For the day, the index picked up 3.48 points or 0.11 percent to finish at 3,126.55 after trading between 3,111.86 and 3,135.02. The Shenzhen Composite Index lost 12.43 points or 0.64 percent to end at 1,917.02.

Among the actives, Industrial and Commercial Bank of China rallied 1.30 percent, while Bank of China climbed 1.08 percent, China Construction Bank spiked 1.32 percent, China Merchants Bank collected 0.98 percent, Bank of Communications jumped 1.62 percent, China Life Insurance fell 0.33 percent, Jiangxi Copper strengthened 1.66 percent, Aluminum Corp of China (Chalco) advanced 1.06 percent, Yankuang Energy skyrocketed 5.33 percent, PetroChina gained 0.85 percent, China Petroleum and Chemical (Sinopec) added 0.64 percent, Huaneng Power accelerated 2.02 percent, China Shenhua Energy soared 2.94 percent, Gemdale shed 0.69 percent, Poly Developments lost 0.44 percent and China Vanke sank 0.81 percent.

The lead from Wall Street is upbeat as the major averages opened solidly higher on Thursday and remained in the green throughout the trading day.

The Dow surged 331.58 points or 0.96 percent to finish at 34,907.11, while the NASDAQ spiked 112.47 points or 0.81 percent to end at 13,926.05 and the S&P 500 improved 37.66 points or 0.84 percent to close at 4,505.10.

The strength on Wall Street partly reflected a positive reaction to a slew of U.S. economic data, including a Commerce Department report showing retail sales in the U.S. increased by much more than expected in the month of August.

Also, the Labor Department said producer prices in the U.S. increased by more than expected in month of August. However, the data does not raise concerns about inflation, as the increase in prices was largely due to a spike in energy prices.

Oil prices rose sharply on Thursday as concerns over the outlook for crude supplies outweighed worries about energy demand. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for October ended higher by $1.64 or 1.9 percent at $90.16 a barrel, the highest settlement in almost 10 months.

Closer to home, China is scheduled to release a raft of data later this morning, including August figures for industrial production, retail sales, fixed asset investment and unemployment.

Industrial production is expected to rise 4.0 percent on year, up from 3.7 percent in July. Retail sales are seen higher by an annual 3.0 percent, up from 2.5 percent in the previous month. FAI is tipped to gain 3.3 percent on year, easing from 3.4 percent a month earlier. The jobless rate is seen steady at 5.3 percent.