China Shares May Extend Wednesday's Gains

(RTTNews) - The China stock market has moved higher in two of three trading days since the end of the two-day slide in which it had dropped more than 60 points or 1.5 percent. The Shanghai Composite Index now sits just beneath the 3,970-point plateau and it may tick higher again on Thursday.

The global forecast for the Asian markets is upbeat on bargain hunting and positive data. The European and U.S. markets were up and the Asian bourses are expected to open in similar fashion.

The SCI finished slightly higher on Wednesday following gains from the resource stocks, weakness from the properties and a mixed picture from the financial sector.

For the day, the index added 9.06 points or 0.23 percent to finish at 3,969.25 after trading between 3,922.58 and 3,979.75. The Shenzhen Composite Index gained 11.10 points or 0.45 percent to end at 2,497.89.

Among the actives, Industrial and Commercial Bank of China added 0.12 percent, while Agricultural Bank of China collected 0.37 percent, China Merchants Bank slumped 0.49 percent, China Life Insurance sank 0.85 percent, Jiangxi Copper climbed 1.48 percent, Aluminum Corp of China (Chalco) was up 0.20 percent, Yankuang Energy jumped 1.64 percent, PetroChina fell 0.42 percent, China Petroleum and Chemical (Sinopec) lost 0.54 percent, Huaneng Power rose 0.37 percent, China Shenhua Energy perked 0.14 percent, Poly Developments shed 0.42 percent, China Vanke dipped 0.16 percent and Gemdale was unchanged.

The lead from Wall Street is solid as the major averages opened barely on Wednesday in the red but quickly accelerated into the green and stayed there for the balance of the day.

The Dow jumped 225.76 points or 0.48 percent to finish at 47,311.00, while the NASDAQ rallied 151.16 points or 0.65 percent to end at 23,499.80 and the S&P 500 gained 24.74 points or 0.37 percent to close at 6,796.29.

The strength for most of the day came as some traders looked to pick up stocks at reduced levels following the steep drop on Tuesday, which reflected concerns about valuations.

Positive sentiment may also have been generated by some upbeat U.S. economic data, including a report from payroll processor ADP showing private sector employment in the U.S. rebounded by more than expected in October.

Also, the Institute for Supply Management released a report showing U.S. service sector activity returned to expansion in October.

Crude oil prices fell on Wednesday as concerns about excess supply and lower demand compelled investors to refrain from big moves. West Texas Intermediate crude for December delivery was down $0.92 or 1.52 percent at $59.64 per barrel.