Mild Upside Predicted For China Stock Market

(RTTNews) - The China stock market on Wednesday ended the two-day slide in which it had dropped almost 40 points or 1.3 percent. The Shanghai Composite Index now sits just shy of the 3,200-point plateau and it may inch higher again on Thursday.

The global forecast for the Asian markets is cautiously optimistic because of an improving outlook for interest rates. The European markets were mixed and the U.S. bourses were slightly higher and the Asian markets figure to split the difference.

The SCI finished slightly higher on Wednesday as gains from the properties and financials were offset by weakness from the energy and resource stocks.

For the day, the index perked 1.02 points or 0.03 percent to finish at 3,198.84 after trading between 3,181.56 and 3,204.36. The Shenzhen Composite Index fell 5.29 points or 0.26 percent to end at 2,037.08.

Among the actives, Industrial and Commercial Bank of China collected 0.44 percent, while Bank of China rose 0.27 percent, China Construction Bank perked 0.17 percent, China Merchants Bank added 0.38 percent, Bank of Communications gained 0.36 percent, China Life Insurance fell 0.31 percent, Jiangxi Copper increased 0.61 percent, Yankuang Energy tumbled 1.98 percent, PetroChina advanced 0.99 percent, China Petroleum and Chemical (Sinopec) improved 0.62 percent, Huaneng Power shed 0.43 percent, China Shenhua Energy gathered 0.47 percent, Gemdale strengthened 1.47 percent, Poly Developments climbed 1.35 percent, China Vanke jumped 1.46 percent, China Fortune Land rallied 2.29 percent and Aluminum Corp of China (Chalco) was unchanged.

The lead from Wall Street suggests mild upside as the major averages opened firmly higher on Wednesday but faded as the day progressed, finishing with only slight gains.

The Dow climbed 109.31 points or 0.31 percent to finish at 35,061.21, while the NASDAQ rose 4.42 points or 0.03 percent to close at 14,358.02 and the S&P 500 perked 10.74 points or 0.24 percent to end at 4,565.72.

The strength on Wall Street extended the current upward trend, with the Dow closing higher for the eighth consecutive session. Encouraging inflation data helped trigger the recent advance, as traders grow increasingly optimistic the Federal Reserve is nearing the end of its interest rate hikes.

Upbeat earnings news has added to the positive sentiment, with regional banks U.S. Bancorp (USB), Ally Financial (ALLY) and Citizens Financial (CFG) posting standout gains after reporting better than expected quarterly earnings.

Meanwhile, traders shrugged off a Commerce Department report showing a sharp pullback in housing starts last month.

Oil futures pared early gains and settled lower on Wednesday after data showed a smaller-than-expected drop in U.S. crude inventories last week, while a stronger dollar weighed as well. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for August fell $0.40 or 0.5 percent at $75.35 a barrel.

Closer to home, the People's Bank of China will announce its latest loan prime rate later this morning; it's expected to hold steady at 3.55 percent.