China Stock Market Tipped To Open In The Green

(RTTNews) - The China stock market on Thursday snapped the two-day slide in which it had slipped almost 15 points or 0.5 percent. The Shanghai Composite Index now rests just above the 3,160-point plateau and it's likely to open higher again on Friday.

The global forecast for the Asian markets is upbeat after the release of encouraging U.S. inflation data and what it means for interest rates, although it may already have largely been priced in. The European and U.S. markets were up and the Asian bourses are tipped to open in similar fashion.

The SCI finished slightly higher on Thursday following mixed performances from the financials and resource stocks, while the properties were soft.

For the day, the index rose 1.61 points or 0.05 percent to finish at 3,163.45 after trading between 3,153.40 and 3,171.59.

Among the actives, Industrial and Commercial Bank of China fell 0.23 percent, while China Construction Bank shed 0.53 percent, China Merchants Bank rose 0.33 percent, China Life Insurance collected 0.35 percent, Jiangxi Copper slid 0.38 percent, Yankuang Energy skidded 1.18 percent, PetroChina strengthened 1.41 percent, China Petroleum and Chemical (Sinopec) gained 0.68 percent, Huaneng Power dropped 0.96 percent, China Shenhua Energy eased 0.07 percent, Gemdale plummeted 3.80 percent, Poly Developments plunged 2.39 percent, China Vanke tanked 2.05 percent, Beijing Capital tumbled 1.97 percent and Bank of China, Bank of Communications and Aluminum Corp of China (Chalco) were unchanged.

The lead from Wall Street is upbeat as the major averages shook off early weakness on Thursday and finally settled solidly in positive territory.

The Dow climbed 216.96 points or 0.64 percent to finish at 34,189.97, while the NASDAQ gained 69.43 points or 0.64 percent to close at 11,001.10 and the S&P 500 rose 13.56 points or 0.34 percent to end at 3,983.17.

The strength that emerged on Wall Street followed the release of highly anticipated consumer price inflation data, which largely was in line with forecasts.

The slower price growth eased concerns about the outlook for interest rates, although the Federal Reserve is still widely expected to raise rates by at least 25 basis points at its next meeting.

Oil futures settled higher on Thursday, gaining for a sixth straight session on a weaker dollar and data showing a slowdown in U.S. inflation. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for February added $0.98 or 1.3 percent at $78.39 a barrel.

Closer to home, China will release December data for imports, exports and trade balance later today. Imports are expected to sink 9.8 percent on year after slipping 10.6 percent in November. Exports are called lower by an annual 10.0 percent after shedding 8.7 percent in the previous month. The trade surplus is pegged at $76.20 billion, up from $69.84 billion a month earlier.