China Stock Market May Reclaim 3,300-Point Level

(RTTNews) - The China stock market has finished higher in two of three trading days since the end of the three-day losing streak in which it had slumped almost 55 points or 1.7 percent. The Shanghai Composite Index now sits just above the 3,280-point plateau and it's tipped to open in the green again on Friday.

The global forecast for the Asian markets is upbeat on optimism over the outlook for interest rates. The European markets were mostly higher and the U.S. bourses were solidly in the green and the Asian markets figure to follow the latter lead.

The SCI finished slightly higher on Thursday following gains from the oil companies, weakness from the financials and mixed performances from the properties and resource companies.

For the day, the index rose 6.82 points or 0.21 percent to finish at 3,282.58 after trading between 3,277.11 and 3,305.71. The Shenzhen Composite Index added 8.70 points or 0.40 percent to end at 2,203.24.

Among the actives, Bank of China shed 0.65 percent, while China Merchants Bank sank 0.75 percent, Bank of Communications dipped 0.22 percent, China Life Insurance collected 0.43 percent, Jiangxi Copper climbed 1.25 percent, Aluminum Corp of China (Chalco) advanced 0.87 percent, Yankuang Energy rallied 2.38 percent, PetroChina improved 0.77 percent, China Petroleum and Chemical (Sinopec) added 0.49 percent, Huaneng Power spiked 2.51 percent, China Shenhua Energy fell 0.31 percent, Gemdale plunged 2.85 percent, Poly Developments retreated 1.39 percent, China Vanke lost 0.62 percent, China Fortune Land strengthened 1.00 percent, Beijing Capital gathered 0.89 percent and Industrial and Commercial Bank of China and China Construction Bank were unchanged.

The lead from Wall Street is firm as the major averages shook off early weakness on Thursday, quickly moving into positive territory and accelerating into the close.

The Dow jumped 332.04 points or 1.03 percent to finish at 32,529.63, while the NASDAQ climbed 130.17 points or 1.08 percent to end at 12,162.59 and the S&P 500 improved 48.82 points or 1.21 percent to close at 4,072.43.

The early weakness on Wall Street followed the release of a Commerce Department report showing a continued contraction in U.S. economic activity in the second quarter of 2022, putting the U.S. in a technical recession.

However, economists cast doubt on whether the economy is actually in a recession, citing other indicators indicating continued growth and persistent strength in the labor market.

The data may have still added to optimism that the Federal Reserve will slow the pace of its interest rate hikes at future meetings, contributing to the turnaround on Wall Street.

Crude oil futures settled lower on Thursday as worries about the outlook for energy demand due to slowing global economic growth weighed on prices. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for September ended lower by $0.84 or 0.9 percent at $96.42 a barrel.