Additional Support Expected For China Stock Market

(RTTNews) - The China stock market on Thursday ended the two-day slide in which it had dropped more than 15 point or 0.4 percent. The Shanghai Composite Index now sits just above the 3,515-point plateau and it's tipped to extend its gains on Friday.

The global forecast for the Asian markets is positive, with oil, technology and financial shares likely to lead the way higher. The European and U.S. markets were up and the Asian markets figure to follow that lead.

The SCI finished modestly higher on Thursday following mixed performances from the property and resource stocks, while the financial shares were soft.

For the day, the index improved 13.05 points or 0.37 percent to finish at 3,516.83 after trading between 3,499.19 and 3,517.28. The Shenzhen Composite Index climbed 25.23 points or 1.19 percent to end at 2,146.08.

Among the actives, Industrial and Commercial Bank of China gave up 0.64 percent, while Bank of China dropped 0.70 percent, Agricultural Bank of China slumped 0.49 percent, China Merchants Bank was down 0.24 percent, Bank of Communications lost 0.37 percent, China Life Insurance collected 0.33 percent, Jiangxi Copper slid 0.17 percent, Aluminum Corp of China (Chalco) added 0.42 percent, Yankuang Energy was up 0.08 percent, PetroChina sank 0.78 percent, China Petroleum and Chemical (Sinopec) shed 0.52 percent, Huaneng Power retreated 1.28 percent, China Shenhua Energy fell 0.40 percent, Gemdale dipped 0.26 percent, Poly Developments perked 0.13 percent and China Vanke was unchanged.

The lead from Wall Street is upbeat as the major averages opened solidly in the green on Thursday and extended their gains throughout the day.

The Dow jumped 229.71 points or 0.52 percent to finish at 44,484.49, while the NASDAQ rallied 155.16 points or 0.75 percent to close at a record 20,855.65 and the S&P 500 gained 33.66 points or 0.54 percent to end at 6,297.36, also a record.

The continued strength on Wall Street followed the release of a batch of upbeat U.S. economic data, including a Commerce Department report showing retail sales rebounded by much more than expected in the month of June.

A separate report from the Labor Department showed first-time claims for U.S. unemployment benefits unexpectedly dipped to a three-month low last month, while import prices in the U.S. inched up less than expected in June.

Crude oil prices increased on Thursday as fresh tension brewing in the Middle East generated demand, while a drop in U.S. inventories was seen as reflecting robust summer demand. West Texas Intermediate crude for August delivery surged $1.16 to settle at $67.54 per barrel.