China Bourse Expected To Snap Losing Streak

(RTTNews) - The China stock market has moved lower in two straight sessions, shedding more than 30 points or 0.9 percent along the way. The Shanghai Composite Index now sits just beneath the 3,425-point plateau although it's expected to rebound on Monday.

The global forecast for the Asian markets is positive on optimism over a possible resolution to tariff talks. The European and U.S. markets finished higher and the Asian bourses are expected to follow that lead.

The SCI finished modestly lower on Friday as losses from the financial shares and oil companies were mitigated by gains from the resource stocks and a mixed picture from the property sector.

For the day, the index sank 24.22 points or 0.70 percent to finish at 3,424.23 after trading between 3,421.04 and 3,462.63. The Shenzhen Composite Index rose 7.74 points or 0.38 percent to end at 2,052.56.

Among the actives, Industrial and Commercial Bank of China lost 2.85 percent, while Bank of China contracted 3.45 percent, Agricultural Bank of China tumbled 3.29 percent, China Merchants Bank cratered 3.47 percent, Bank of Communications plummeted 3.25 percent, China Life Insurance stumbled 2.23 percent, Jiangxi Copper skyrocketed 6.12 percent, Aluminum Corp of China (Chalco) rallied 2.15 percent, Yankuang Energy was up 0.08 percent, PetroChina retreated 1.37 percent, China Petroleum and Chemical (Sinopec) dropped 0.88 percent, Huaneng Power plunged 3.16 percent, China Shenhua Energy fell 0.27 percent, Gemdale rose 0.26 percent, Poly Developments perked 0.12 percent and China Vanke was unchanged.

The lead from Wall Street is upbeat as the major averages spent most of Friday in the green, shaking off a late slump to finish solidly in positive territory.

The Dow jumped 432.47 points or 1.00 percent to finish at 43,819.27, while the NASDAQ gained 105.56 points or 0.52 percent to end at 20,273.46 and the S&P 500 added 32.05 points or 0.52 percent to end at 6,173.07. For the week, the NASDAQ surged 4.3 percent, the Dow jumped 3.8 percent and the S&P 500 shot up 3.4 percent.

Optimism about new trade deals contributed to the early rally on Wall Street after President Donald Trump indicated the U.S. had signed an agreement with China.

However, stocks pulled back sharply in afternoon trading after Trump said he is ending trade talks with Canada due to the country imposing a digital services tax on U.S. technology companies.

In economic news, the Commerce Department released a closely watched report that included the Federal Reserve's preferred readings on consumer price inflation - which said overall inflation rose in line with expectations.

Crude oil posted gains on Friday in the wake of the U.S. confirming readiness to sign trade deals with China and multiple other trading partners, plus indications of strong summer demand. West Texas Intermediate crude for August delivery rose $0.28 to settle at $65.52 per barrel.

Closer to home, China will see June results for the manufacturing, non-manufacturing and composite PMIs from the National Bureau of Statistics later this morning; in May, their scores were 49.5, 50.3 and 50.4, respectively.