Losing Streak May Continue For China Stock Market

(RTTNews) - The China stock market has finished lower in three straight sessions, sinking more than 50 points or 1.6 percent along the way. The Shanghai Composite Index now sits just above the 3,035-point plateau and it may take further damage on Friday.

The global forecast for the Asian markets suggests consolidation on rising treasury yields and concerns over the outlook for 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 modestly lower on Thursday as losses from the properties and energy companies were mitigated by support from the oil stocks and a mixed picture from the financial sector.

For the day, the index shed 9.33 points or 0.31 percent to finish at 3,035.05 after trading between 3,013.69 and 3,070.26. The Shenzhen Composite Index slumped 10.17 points or 0.51 percent to finish at 1,971.67.

Among the actives, Industrial and Commercial Bank of China rose 0.23 percent, while China Construction Bank collected 0.55 percent, China Merchants Bank shed 0.63 percent, China Life Insurance advanced 0.85 percent, Jiangxi Copper was up 0.13 percent, Aluminum Corp of China (Chalco) lost 0.48 percent, Yankuang Energy tanked 2.45 percent, PetroChina climbed 0.98 percent, China Petroleum and Chemical (Sinopec) perked 0.23 percent, Huaneng Power tumbled 1.93 percent, China Shenhua Energy surrendered 1.90 percent, Gemdale dipped 0.20 percent, Poly Developments retreated 1.60 percent, China Vanke fell 0.31 percent, China Fortune Land declined 0.81 percent, Beijing capital Development slumped 1.39 percent and Bank of China and Bank of Communications were unchanged.

The lead from Wall Street is negative as the major averages were unable to hold early gains, heading south by midday and finishing at daily lows.

The Dow slumped 90.22 points or 0.30 percent to finish at 30,333.59, while the NASDAQ shed 65.66 points or 0.61 percent to end at 10,614.84 and the S&P 500 lost 29.38 points or 0.80 percent to close at 3,665.78.

Stocks initially benefited from another batch of upbeat earnings news from big-name companies like IBM Corp. (IBM) and AT&T (T).

Buying interest waned over the course of the morning, however, with a continued surge in treasury yields contributing to the subsequent pullback by the markets. The yield on the benchmark ten-year note extended recent gains, reaching its highest levels in over fourteen years.

Concerns about the outlook for interest rates continue to drive yields higher, with Philadelphia Federal Reserve President Patrick Harker saying that he expects the Fed to continue raising rates "for a while."

The Fed is widely expected to raise interest rates by another 75 basis points in early November, bringing the target range for the federal funds rate to 3.75 to 4.0 percent.

Crude oil futures for November delivery settled higher on their expiration day as traders weighed energy demand and supply positions. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for November rose $0.43 or 0.5 percent at $85.98 a barrel on the expiration day. But WTI Crude oil futures for December eased to $84.51 a barrel.