Higher Open Called For China Stock Market

(RTTNews) - The China stock market on Friday wrote a finish to the three-day slide in which it had tumbled almost 95 points or 3 percent. The Shanghai Composite Index now sits just above the 3,210-point plateau and it's expected to open in the green again on Monday.

The global forecast for the Asian markets is upbeat thanks to an apparent resolution to the U.S. debt ceiling crisis forged over the weekend. The European and U.S. markets were up and the Asian bourses are expected to follow suit.

The SCI finished modestly higher on Friday following gains from the properties and financials, while the resource and energy companies were mixed.

For the day, the index added 11.24 points or 0.35 percent to finish at 3,212.50 after trading between 3,179.82 and 3,220.77. The Shenzhen Composite Index rose 6.36 points or 0.32 percent to end at 2,012.49.

Among the actives, Industrial and Commercial Bank of China strengthened 1.27 percent, while China Construction Bank rallied 2.25 percent, China Merchants Bank advanced 0.99 percent, Bank of Communications spiked 2.83 percent, China Life Insurance collected 0.40 percent, Jiangxi Copper climbed 1.04 percent, Aluminum Corp of China (Chalco) improved 1.15 percent, Yankuang Energy plunged 4.69 percent, PetroChina sank 0.70 percent, China Petroleum and Chemical (Sinopec) jumped 1.48 percent, Huaneng Power soared 3.19 percent, China Shenhua Energy tumbled 2.50 percent, Gemdale gained 0.96 percent, Poly Developments accelerated 2.10 percent, China Vanke rose 0.14 percent, China Fortune Land increased 1.36 percent and Bank of China was unchanged.

The lead from Wall Street is broadly positive as the major averages opened higher on Friday and remained solidly in the green throughout the session.

The Dow surged 328.64 points or 1.00 percent to finish at 33,093.34, while the NASDAQ spiked 277.59 points or 2.19 percent to end at 12,975.69 and the S&P 500 jumped 54.17 points or 1.30 percent to close at 4,205.45. For the week, the Dow slumped 1.0 percent, the NASDAQ rallied 2.5 percent and the S&P rose 0.3 percent.

Stocks benefitted from renewed optimism about raising the U.S. debt ceiling amid reports lawmakers are closing in on an agreement.

Those hopes came to fruition over the weekend when President Joe Biden and House Speaker Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., reached an agreement in principle. It will raise the debt ceiling for two years and keep non-defense spending roughly flat for fiscal 2024.

Optimism about a debt ceiling deal overshadowed a Commerce Department report showing a reacceleration in the annual rate of consumer price growth in the month of April.

Crude oil prices climbed higher on Friday after Russia played down the prospect of additional output cuts by OPEC. West Texas Intermediate crude oil futures for July ended higher by $0.84 or 1.2 percent at $72.67 a barrel. WTI crude futures gained about 1.6 percent last week.