Soft Start Called For China Stock Market

(RTTNews) - The China stock market on Wednesday ended the three-day losing streak in which it had retreated more than 100 points or 3 percent. The Shanghai Composite Index now rests just above the 3,380-point plateau although it's expected to open in the red on Thursday.

The global forecast for the Asian markets suggests major consolidation on the deteriorating outlook for interest rates. The European markets were mixed and flat and the U.S. bourses were sharply lower and the Asian markets figure to follow the latter lead.

The SCI finished modestly higher on Wednesday as gains from the financials and energy companies were capped by weakness from the resource stocks.

For the day, the index gained 20.72 points or 0.62 percent to finish at 3,382.21 after trading between 3,371.30 and 3,396.46. The Shenzhen Composite Index improved 11.75 points or 0.58 percent to end at 2,025.53.

Among the actives, Industrial and Commercial Bank of China rallied 1.23 percent, while China Construction Bank collected 0.71 percent, China Merchants Bank jumped 1.77 percent, China Life Insurance gathered 0.22 percent, Jiangxi Copper shed 0.57 percent, Aluminum Corp of China (Chalco) dipped 0.14 percent, Yankuang Energy perked 0.21 percent, PetroChina rose 0.35 percent, China Petroleum and Chemical (Sinopec) climbed 1.09 percent, Huaneng Power strengthened 1.42 percent, China Shenhua Energy added 0.61 percent, Gemdale skidded 1.03 percent, Poly Developments eased 0.11 percent and China Vanke, Agricultural Bank of China and Bank of China were unchanged.

The lead from Wall Street is brutal as the major averages opened flat on Wednesday and stayed that way for most of the session before plummeting after the FOMC's interest rate statement.

The Dow crashed 1,123.03 points or 2.58 percent to finish at 42,326.87, while the NASDAQ tanked 716.37 points or 3.56 percent to close at 19,392.69 and the S&P 500 sank 178.45 points or 2.95 percent to end at 5,872.16.

The sell-off on Wall Street came after the Federal Reserve announced its widely expected decision to lower interest rates by a quarter-point but forecast fewer than previously estimated rate cuts next year.

With the rate cut almost universally expected, the focus of the announcement was on Fed officials' latest economic projections. The latest projections suggest rates will be in a range of 3.75 to 4.0 percent by the end of 2025 compared to the range of 3.25 to 3.50 percent forecast in September.

Assuming the Fed lowers rates by a quarter-point, the projections point to just two rate cuts next year compared to the four previously forecast as Fed officials expect inflation to come in hotter than previously estimated in 2025.

Crude oil prices climbed higher on Wednesday, rebounding from recent losses after data showed a drop in crude inventories and an increase in gasoline stockpiles last week. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for January closed up $0.50 or 0.71 percent at $70.58 a barrel.