China Shares Expected To Reclaim 3,000-Point Level

(RTTNews) - The China stock market on Wednesday snapped the three-day winning streak in which it had gained almost 40 points or 1.3. The Shanghai Composite Index now sits just beneath the 2,970-point plateau although it's expected to rebound on Thursday.

The global forecast for the Asian markets is upbeat on optimism over the outlook for interest rates. The European markets were mixed and flat and the U.S. bourses were solidly higher and the Asian markets figure to follow the latter lead.

The SCI finished sharply lower on Wednesday following losses from the financial shares, property stocks and resource companies.

For the day, the index slumped 34.68 points or 1.15 percent to finish at 2,968.76 after trading between 2,968.76 and 2,997.34. The Shenzhen Composite Index dropped 22.67 points or 1.21 percent to end at 1,845.43.

Among the actives, China Construction Bank fell 0.31 percent, while China Merchants Bank tanked 2.96 percent, China Life Insurance tumbled 1.98 percent, Jiangxi Copper retreated 1.68 percent, Aluminum Corp of China (Chalco) stumbled 2.68 percent, Yankuang Energy declined 1.23 percent, PetroChina surrendered 2.17 percent, China Petroleum and Chemical (Sinopec) slumped 1.66 percent, China Shenhua Energy dropped 1.50 percent, Gemdale plunged 3.49 percent, Poly Developments sank 2.13 percent, China Vanke plummeted 3.36 percent and Industrial and Commercial Bank of China, Bank of China and Bank of Communications were unchanged.

The lead from Wall Street is broadly positive as the major averages were flat for most of the day but surged in the afternoon following the Federal Reserve's rate decision.

The Dow surged 512.30 points or 1.40 percent to finish at a record 37,090.24, while the NASDAQ rallied 200.57 points or 1.38 percent to end at 14,733.96 and the S&P 500 gained 63.39 points or 1.37 percent to close at 4,707.09.

The surge on Wall Street came after the Fed announced its widely expected decision to leave interest rates unchanged while also confirming plans to pivot to cutting rates next year.

The accompanying statement said the decision came as economic growth has slowed from its strong pace in the third quarter, while inflation has eased over the past year.

The projections provided by the Fed also suggest the central bank will begin cutting rates next year, with the median forecast indicating rates will be lowered to 4.6 percent by the end of 2024.

Oil prices climbed higher on Wednesday after data showed a bigger than expected drop in U.S. crude inventories last week. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for January ended higher by $0.86 or 1.3 percent at $69.47 a barrel.