China Stock Market May Reclaim 3,400-Point Level

(RTTNews) - The China stock market on Wednesday ended the two-day losing streak in which it had given up almost 35 points or 1 percent. The Shanghai Composite Index now rests just above the 3,380-point plateau and it's tipped to open in the green again on Thursday.

The global forecast for the Asian markets is fairly upbeat, with bargain hunting expected among especially the technology stocks. The European markets were up and the U.S. bourses were mixed and the Asian markets figure to split the difference.

The SCI finished sharply higher on Wednesday following gains from the financial shares and property stocks, while the oil companies were soft.

For the day, the index improved 34.17 points or 1.02 percent to finish at the daily high of 3,380.21 after moving as low as 3,351.21. The Shenzhen Composite Index climbed 22.83 points or 1.10 percent to end at 2,097.14.

Among the actives, Industrial and Commercial Bank of China rose 0.29 percent, while Bank of China advanced 0.93 percent, China Construction Bank collected 0.47 percent, China Merchants Bank climbed 1.10 percent, Agricultural Bank of China perked 0.20 percent, China Life Insurance strengthened 1.45 percent, Jiangxi Copper spiked 2.46 percent, Aluminum Corp of China (Chalco) dipped 0.13 percent, Yankuang Energy eased 0.07 percent, PetroChina fell 0.26 percent, China Petroleum and Chemical (Sinopec) shed 0.52 percent, Huaneng Power rallied 1.52 percent, China Shenhua Energy slid 0.25 percent, Gemdale surged 4.82 percent, Poly Developments soared 3.48 percent and China Vanke jumped 2.08 percent.

The lead from Wall Street offers little clarity as the major averages hugged the line on Wednesday, finishing mixed and roughly flat as investors waited until after close for results from NVIDIA Corporation (NVDA).

The Dow stumbled 188.04 points or 0.43 percent to finish at 43,433.12, while the NASDAQ added 48.88 points or 0.26 percent to close at 19,075.26 and the S&P 500 perked 0.81 points or 0.01 percent to end at 5,956.06.

Wall Street saw some early bargain hunting following recent weakness in the markets, but mostly investors were waiting on the NVIDIA results.

After the bell, NVIDIA unveiled Q4 earnings that increased from last year, beat estimates slightly and provided positive guidance. That fueled choppy but not negative trade after hours.

In economic news, the Commerce Department released a report showing a substantial pullback by new home sales in the U.S. in January.

Crude oil prices drifted lower on Wednesday amid concerns about the outlook for demand as the Trump administration's tariff policies are expected to slow global economic growth. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for April settled lower by $0.31 at $68.62 a barrel.