China Stock Market Due For Support On Friday

(RTTNews) - The China stock market has finished lower in three straight sessions, dropping almost 60 points or 1.9 percent along the way. The Shanghai Composite Index new sits just above the 3,180-point plateau although it may stop the bleeding on Friday.

The global forecast for the Asian markets is mixed, with bargain hunting likely to offset concerns over the outlook for interest rates. The European markets were down and the U.S. bourses were mixed and the Asian markets figure to follow the latter lead.

The SCI finished modestly lower on Thursday as losses from the financials and resource stocks were tempered by support from the properties and a mixed picture from the energy producers.

For the day, the index shed 17.16 points or 0.54 percent to finish at 3,184.98 after trading between 3,181.63 and 3,214.56. The Shenzhen Composite Index lost 15.46 points or 0.74 percent to end at 2,080.60.

Among the actives, Industrial and Commercial Bank of China shed 0.46 percent, while Bank of China rose 0.33 percent, China Construction Bank lost 0.54 percent, China Merchants Bank stumbled 1.57 percent, Bank of Communications dipped 0.22 percent, China Life Insurance sank 0.81 percent, Jiangxi Copper fell 0.31 percent, Aluminum Corp of China (Chalco) sank 0.67 percent, Yankuang Energy soared 3.54 percent, PetroChina increased 0.37 percent, China Petroleum and Chemical (Sinopec) dropped 0.94 percent, Huaneng Power plunged 3.79 percent, China Shenhua Energy rallied 2.54 percent, Gemdale added 0.34 percent, Poly Developments perked 0.06 percent, China Vanke climbed 1.26 percent, China Fortune Land jumped 1.41 percent and Beijing Capital spiked 2,06 percent.

The lead from Wall Street is mixed as the major averages opened lower on Thursday but a late-day rally pushed the Down and S&P 500 into the green at the close.

The Dow added 145.99 points or 0.46 percent to finish at 31,656.42, while the NASDAQ slipped 31.08 points or 0.26 percent to end at 11,785.13 and the S&P 500 rose 11.85 points or 0.30 percent to close at 3,966.85.

Bargain hunting contributed to the rebound on Wall Street, with traders picking up stocks at reduced levels after the major averages once again fell to their lowest levels in over a month.

The early selloff on Wall Street also came as the latest labor and manufacturing data was seen as confirming the Federal Reserve's stance that it can remain aggressive with the tightening of policy.

With the more closely watched monthly jobs report looming later today, the Labor Department this morning unexpectedly reported a modest decrease in first-time claims for U.S. unemployment benefits last week.

Oil futures ended sharply lower Thursday on rising concerns about the outlook for energy demand and worries that aggressive rate hikes by major central banks may lead to a global economic slowdown. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for September ended lower by $2.94 or 3.3 percent at $86.61 a barrel.