China Bourse Still Overdue For Profit Taking

(RTTNews) - The China stock market bounced higher again on Thursday, one day after ending the 10-day winning streak in which it had skyrocketed more than 780 points or 27.9 percent. The Shanghai Composite now sits just above the 3,300-point plateau and it may open under pressure on Friday.

The global forecast for the Asian markets is soft on ebbing optimism over the outlook for interest rates. The European and U.S. markets finished slightly lower and the Asian bourses are expected to follow that lead.

The SCI finished sharply higher on Thursday following gains from the financial shares, resource stocks and energy companies, while the property sector was soft.

For the day, the index rallied 43.07 points or 1.32 percent to finish at 3,301.93 after trading between 3,228.12 and 3,379.81. The Shenzhen Composite Index slipped 7.04 points or 0.37 percent to end at 1,910.27.

Among the actives, Industrial and Commercial Bank of China jumped 3.81 percent, while Bank of China added 4.16 percent, China Construction Bank collected 3.32 percent, China Merchants Bank strengthened 4.65 percent, Agricultural Bank of China rallied 3.21 percent, China Life Insurance advanced 0.90 percent, Jiangxi Copper gathered 2.73 percent, Aluminum Corp of China (Chalco) accelerated 6.26 percent, Yankuang Energy surged 9.11 percent, PetroChina gained 3.43 percent, China Petroleum and Chemical (Sinopec) improved 4.56 percent, Huaneng Power rose 1.61 percent, China Shenhua Energy spiked 6.44 percent, Gemdale stumbled 3.91 percent, Poly Developments increased 1.42 percent and China Vanke dropped 2.36 percent.

The lead from Wall Street suggests mild consolidation as the major averages opened slightly under water on Thursday and pretty much stayed that way throughout the session.

The Dow shed 57.88 points or 0.14 percent to finish at 42,454.12, while the NASDAQ dipped 9.57 points or 0.05 percent to close at 18,282.05 and the S&P 500 sank 11.99 points or 0.21 percent to end at 5,780.05.

The modest weakness on Wall Street followed the release of a highly anticipated Labor Department report showing consumer prices in the U.S. increased by slightly more than expected in the month of September.

The bigger than expected increase by consumer prices further offset optimism that the Federal Reserve will continue to aggressively lower interest rates in the coming months.

Negative sentiment was also generated in reaction to a separate Labor Department report showing first-time claims for U.S. unemployment benefits increased by much more than expected last week.

Oil prices rose sharply on Thursday as worries about escalating tensions in the Middle East outweighed uncertainty about the outlook for demand. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for November ended higher by $2.61 or about 3.56 percent at $75.85 a barrel.