China Shares May Tick Higher Again On Friday

(RTTNews) - The China stock market has finished higher in two of three trading days since the end of the three-day losing streak in which it had dropped more than 50 points or 1.7 percent. The Shanghai Composite Index now rests just above the 3,010-point plateau and it may see mild support again on Friday.

The global forecast for the Asian markets is mixed and flat ahead of key U.S. inflation data later today. The European markets were slightly higher and the U.S. bourses were mixed and little changed and the Asian markets figure to split the difference.

The SCI finished modestly higher on Thursday following gains from the resource stocks, weakness from the financials and mixed performances from the property and energy sectors.

For the day, the index gained 17.52 points or 0.59 percent to finish at 3,010.66 after trading between 2,984.12 and 3,033.37. The Shenzhen Composite Index jumped 29.36 points or 1.72 percent to end at 1,732.61.

Among the actives, Industrial and Commercial Bank of China tanked 2.05 percent, while Bank of China surrendered 2.45 percent, China Construction Bank tumbled 1.73 percent, China Merchants Bank fell 0.37 percent, Bank of Communications plunged 2.80 percent, China Life Insurance rallied 1.32 percent, Jiangxi Copper jumped 1.72 percent, Aluminum Corp of China (Chalco) rose 0.14 percent, Yankuang Energy added 0.30 percent, PetroChina advanced 0.87 percent, Huaneng Power slid 0.22 percent, China Shenhua Energy lost 0.51 percent, Poly Developments dropped 0.95 percent, China Vanke gained 0.33 percent and China Petroleum and Chemical (Sinopec) and Gemdale were unchanged.

The lead from Wall Street offers little clarity as the major averages opened slightly higher but then spent most of the day hugging both side of the line before finishing mixed and little changed.

The Dow added 47.29 points or 0.12 percent to finish at 39,807.37, while the NASDAQ dipped 20.06 points or 0.12 percent to close at 16,379.46 and the S&P 500 rose 5.86 points or 0.11 percent to end at 5,254.35. For the holiday-shortened week, the Dow added 0.8 percent, the S&P rose 0.4 percent and the NASDAQ fell 0.3 percent.

The choppy trading on Wall Street came as traders were reluctant to make significant moves ahead of the release of a Commerce Department report on personal income and spending later today Friday that includes readings on inflation said to be preferred by the Federal Reserve.

While the inflation data could impact the outlook for interest rates, traders will have to wait until next Monday to react to the report due to the markets being closed for Good Friday.

In economic news, the Labor Department said first-time claims for U.S. unemployment benefits edged slightly lower last week. The Commerce Department showed the U.S. economy grew more than estimated in the fourth quarter of 2023. And the National Association of Realtors noted a rebound by pending home sales in February.

Oil futures rallied on Thursday, lifted by a likely drop in supply levels due to OPEC production cuts and continued attacks by Ukraine on Russian oil facilities. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for May spiked $1.82 or 2.2 percent at $83.17 a barrel. WTI futures gained 3.15 percent for the week.