China Stock Market Expected To Open In The Red

(RTTNews) - The China stock market has alternated between positive and negative finishes through the last five trading days since the end of the five-day losing streak in which it had surrendered almost 100 points or 2.8 percent. The Shanghai Composite Index now sits just above the 3,250-point plateau although it's predicted to hand back those gains on Monday.

The global forecast for the Asian markets suggests consolidation on continued concerns over the health of financial institutions. The European and U.S. markets were down and the Asian bourses figure to follow that lead.

The SCI finished modestly higher on Friday gains from the oil companies and property stocks, while the financials were mixed.

For the day, the index gained 23.66 points or 0.73 percent to finish at 3,250.55 after trading between 3,240.16 and 3,279.92. The Shenzhen Composite Index improved 10.70 points or 0.52 percent to end at 2,060.18.

Among the actives, Bank of China fell 0.29 percent, while China Construction Bank collected 0.50 percent, China Merchants Bank sank 0.84 percent, Bank of Communications added 0.59 percent, China Life Insurance rallied 2.05 percent, Jiangxi Copper strengthened 1.57 percent, Aluminum Corp of China (Chalco) spiked 2.97 percent, Yankuang Energy jumped 1.79 percent, PetroChina skyrocketed 6.39 percent, China Petroleum and Chemical (Sinopec) soared 4.22 percent, Huaneng Power skidded 1.11 percent, China Shenhua Energy accelerated 1.89 percent, Gemdale climbed 1.16 percent, Poly Developments gained 0.63 percent, China Vanke advanced 0.95 percent and Industrial and Commercial Bank of China was unchanged.

The lead from Wall Street is negative as the major averages opened lower on Friday and pretty much stayed that way throughout the session.

The Dow tumbled 384.62 points or 1.19 percent to finish at 31,861.98, while the NASDAQ slumped 86.79 points or 0.74 percent to close at 11,630.51 and the S&P 500 dropped 43.64 points or 1.10 percent to end at 3,916.64. For the week, the NASDAQ soared 4.4 percent, the S&P 500 rose 1.4 percent and the Dow eased 0.2 percent.

The pullback on Wall Street came as traders looked to cash in on Thursday's rally amid lingering concerns about turmoil in the financial sector.

Traders also looked ahead to Wednesday's Federal Reserve's monetary policy announcement. CME Group's FedWatch tool currently indicates a 43.2 percent chance the Fed will leave rates unchanged and a 56.8 percent chance of a 25 basis point rate hike.

In economic news, the Fed said U.S. industrial production was unexpectedly unchanged in February. Also, the University of Michigan said consumer sentiment in the U.S. fell for the first time in four months in March.

Crude oil prices sank Friday as rising concerns about the health of the banking sector continued to fuel worries about economic growth and the outlook for energy demand. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for April dropped $1.61 or 2.4 percent at $66.74 a barrel. WTI crude futures tumbled 13 percent in the week.

Closer to home, the People's Bank of China will announce its latest loan prime rate numbers later this morning; the rate is expected to hold steady at 3.65 percent.