Higher Open Called For China Stock Market

(RTTNews) - The China stock market on Wednesday ended the three-day winning streak in which it had collected almost 75 points or 2.1 percent. The Shanghai Composite Index now sits just beneath the 3,430-point plateau although it's expected to move higher again on Thursday.

The global forecast for the Asian markets is upbeat on an improved outlook for interest rates. The European markets were mixed and the U.S. bourses moved higher and the Asian markets figure to split the difference.

The SCI finished slightly lower on Wednesday as losses from the property and resource stocks were mitigated by support from the financial shares.

For the day, the index dipped 3.33 points or 0.10 percent to finish at 3,426.43 after trading between 3,414.59 and 3,439.05. The Shenzhen Composite Index fell 8.53 points or 0.40 percent to end at 2,114.13.

Among the actives, Industrial and Commercial Bank of China improved 1.03 percent, while Bank of China climbed 1.12 percent, China Construction Bank collected 0.94 percent, China Merchants Bank jumped 1.95 percent, Agricultural Bank of China advanced 0.98 percent, China Life Insurance rose 0.20 percent, Jiangxi Copper was down 0.22 percent, Aluminum Corp of China (Chalco) slumped 0.77 percent, Yankuang Energy shed 0.37 percent, PetroChina slid 0.25 percent, China Petroleum and Chemical (Sinopec) added 0.52 percent, Huaneng Power rallied 1.34 percent, Gemdale fell 0.41 percent, Poly Developments and China Vanke both sank 0.80 percent and China Shenhua Energy was unchanged.

The lead from Wall Street is positive as the major averages opened modestly higher on Wednesday but accelerated into the close, ending near session highs.

The Dow jumped 383.32 points or 0.92 percent to finish at 41,964.63, while the NASDAQ surged 246.67 points or 1.41 percent to close at 17,750.79 and the S&P 500 rallied 60.63 points or 1.08 percent to end at 5,675.29.

Stocks rallied early in the session and saw further upside following the Federal Reserve's monetary policy announcement. The Fed announced its widely expected decision to again leave interest rates unchanged but signaled that it is still likely to lower rates later this year.

Meanwhile, Fed officials lowered their projections for GDP growth in 2025 to 1.7 percent from 2.1 percent and raised their forecasts for consumer price growth this year to 2.7 percent from 2.5 percent.

Oil futures closed higher on Wednesday amid continued uncertainty about growth due to the impact of U.S. tariffs on some of its major trading partners. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for April closed higher by $0.26 or 0.39 percent at $67.16 a barrel.