China Stock Market May Hand Back Friday's Gains

(RTTNews) - The China stock market bounced higher again on Friday, one session after stopping the two-day winning streak in which it had gathered more than 50 points or 1.7 percent. The Shanghai Composite Index now site just above the 3,070-point plateau, although it's expected to open under pressure on Monday.

The global forecast for the Asian markets is negative on rising fears of recession and higher interest rates. The European markets were up and the U.S. bourses were down and the Asian markets figure to follow the latter lead.

The SCI finished sharply higher on Friday following gains from the oil, resource and power companies, while the financials and properties were mixed.

For the day, the index jumped 55.63 points or 1.84 percent to finish at 3,071.99 after trading between 3,035.03 and 3,084.27. The Shenzhen Composite Index soared 50.06 points or 2.59 percent to end at 1,984.33.

Among the actives, Industrial and Commercial Bank of China dipped 0.23 percent, while Bank of China rose 0.33 percent, China Construction Bank eased 0.18 percent, China Merchants Bank spiked 3.98 percent, China Life Insurance plunged 3.64 percent, Jiangxi Copper strengthened 1.47 percent, Aluminum Corp of China (Chalco) climbed 1.19 percent, Yankuang Energy improved 1.46 percent, PetroChina gained 0.78 percent, China Petroleum and Chemical (Sinopec) advanced 1.17 percent, Huaneng Power eased 0.12 percent, China Shenhua Energy jumped 1.51 percent, Gemdale gathered 0.39 percent, Poly Developments tumbled 2.43 percent, China Vanke increased 1.31 percent, China Fortune Land rallied 2.05 percent and Bank of Communications was unchanged.

The lead from Wall Street is brutal as the major averages opened higher on Friday but quickly nosedived into the red and finished with deep losses.

The Dow tumbled 403.87 points or 1.34 percent to finish at 29,634.83, while the NASDAQ plunged 327.81 points or 3.08 percent to close at 10,321.39 and the S&P 500 sank 86.84 points or 2.37 percent to end at 3,583.07.

For the week, the Dow rose 1.2 percent, the NASDAQ dropped 3.1 percent and the S&P lost 1.5 percent.

The sharp pullback on Wall Street extended the volatility on Thursday, when stocks recovered from an early sell-off to close sharply higher. But renewed selling pressure was generated by a report from the University of Michigan showing a rebound in inflation expectations in October.

Traders also reacted to earnings news from several big-name financial companies as JPMorgan Chase (JPM) and Wells Fargo (WFC) reported better than expected revenues, while Morgan Stanley (MS) missed estimates.

Crude oil prices plummeted on Friday, weighed down by concerns about the outlook for energy demand amid the rising possibility of a global recession. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for November ended lower by $3.50 or 3.9 percent at $85.61 a barrel.

Closer to home, China will on Monday release September figures for imports, exports and trade balance later today. Imports are expected to rise 1.0 percent on year, up from 0.3 percent in August. Exports are called higher by an annual 4.1 percent, slowing from 7.1 percent in the previous month. The trade surplus is pegged at $81.0 billion, up from $79.39 billion a month earlier.