China Bourse May Hand Back Wednesday's Gains

(RTTNews) - The China stock market has finished higher in two of three trading days since the end of the two-day losing streak in which it had slumped almost 70 points or 2.2 percent. The Shanghai Composite Index now sits just above the 3,110-point plateau although it figures to head south again on Thursday.

The global forecast for the Asian markets is negative on concerns over treasury yields and the outlook for interest rates. The European and U.S. markets were down and the Asian markets are expected to follow suit.

The TSE finished barely higher on Wednesday as gains from the energy and resource stocks were offset by weakness from the financial sector.

For the day, the index rose 1.45 points or 0.05 percent to finish at 3,111.02 after trading between 3,100.98 and 3,128.14. The Shenzhen Composite Index added 5.22 points or 0.30 percent to end at 1,734.14.

Among the actives, Industrial and Commercial Bank of China fell 0.36 percent, while Bank of China shed 0.67 percent, China Construction Bank lost 0.56 percent, China Merchants Bank sank 0.75 percent, Bank of Communications eased 0.14 percent, China Life Insurance retreated 1.50 percent, Jiangxi Copper jumped 2.03 percent, Aluminum Corp of China (Chalco) soared 3.69 percent, Yankuang Energy and Huaneng Power both added 0.66 percent, PetroChina advanced 0.96 percent, China Petroleum and Chemical (Sinopec) gained 0.46 percent, China Shenhua Energy strengthened 1.28 percent, Gemdale slid 0.44 percent, Poly Developments collected 0.68 percent and China Vanke improved 0.70 percent.

The lead from Wall Street is soft as the major averages opened firmly lower on Wednesday and remained in the red throughout the trading day.

The Dow plunged 411.32 points or 1.06 percent to finish at 38,441.54, while the NASDAQ slumped 99.30 points or 0.58 percent to close ta 16,920.58 and the S&P 500 sank 39.09 points or 0.74 percent to end at 5,266.95.

The weakness on Wall Street came amid a continued increase by treasury yields, with the yield on the benchmark ten-year note climbing to its highest levels in nearly a month.

The continued advance by treasury yields has added to recent concerns about the outlook for interest rates ahead of key inflation data later in the week.

Crude oil prices fell on Wednesday on concerns about the outlook for interest rates, and the likely adverse impact high borrowing costs will have on energy demand. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for July sank $0.60 at $79.23 a barrel.