China Stock Market May Remain Stuck In Neutral On Friday

(RTTNews) - The China stock market has alternated between positive and negative finishes through the last four trading days since the end of the two-day slide in which it had dropped more than 55 points or 1.5 percent. The Shanghai Composite Index now rests just above the 3,850-point plateau although it's likely to open in the red on Friday.

The global forecast for the Asian markets is soft ahead of the release of key inflation data from the United States. The European and U.S. markets were down and the Asian bourses are expected to open in similar fashion.

The SCI finished barely lower on Thursday following losses from the properties, gains from the resource stocks and a mixed picture from the financial sector.

For the day, the index dipped 0.34 points or 0.01 percent to finish at 3,853.30 after trading between 3,840.46 and 3,866.11. The Shenzhen Composite Index perked 3.78 points or 0.15 percent to end at 2,509.29.

Among the actives, Industrial and Commercial Bank of China skidded 1.20 percent, while Bank of China slumped 0.76 percent, Agricultural Bank of China collected 0.61 percent, China Merchants Bank declined 1.21 percent, Bank of Communications fell 0.44 percent, China Life Insurance eased 0.03 percent, Jiangxi Copper surged 6.10 percent, Aluminum Corp of China (Chalco) was up 0.13 percent, Yankuang Energy rose 0.29 percent, PetroChina perked 0.12 percent, China Petroleum and Chemical (Sinopec) dipped 0.19 percent, Huaneng Power retreated 1.52 percent, China Shenhua Energy lost 0.59 percent, Gemdale sank 0.73 percent, China Vanke shed 0.58 percent and Poly Developments was unchanged.

The lead from Wall Street is weak as the major averages opened lower on Thursday and stayed in the red throughout the trading day.

The Dow dropped 173.96 points or 0.38 percent to finish at 45,947.32, while the NASDAQ sank 113.16 points or 0.50 percent to end at 22,384.70 and the S&P 500 lost 33.25 points or 0.50 percent to close at 6,604.72.

The continued weakness on Wall Street partly reflected ongoing concerns about the near-term outlook for the artificial intelligence trade.

Renewed uncertainty about the outlook for interest rates also weighed on the markets following the release of some upbeat U.S. economic data.

Later today, the Commerce Department is scheduled to release its report on personal income and spending in August, which includes the Fed's preferred readings on consumer price inflation.

Crude oil inched higher on Thursday amid the possibility of Russian oil exports being hit by sanctions by the U.S. West Texas Intermediate crude for November delivery was up $0.08 or 0.12 percent at $65.07 per barrel.