China Bourse May Extend Thursday's Losses

(RTTNews) - The China stock market headed south again on Thursday, one session after halting the two-day slide in which it had stumbled almost 65 points or 2.1 percent. The Shanghai Composite Index now sits just above the 2,980-point plateau and it may take further damage on Friday.

The global forecast for the Asian markets is mixed to lower, with tech shares expected to weigh heavily. The European and U.S. markets were mixed and the Asian bourses are expected to follow that lead.

The SCI finished modestly lower on Thursday following losses from the financials, support from the resource stocks and a mixed picture from the properties.

For the day, the index shed 16.60 points or 0.55 percent to finish at 2,982.90 after trading between 2,981.69 and 3,017.26. The Shenzhen Composite Index sank 12.54 points or 0.64 percent to end at 1,945.38.

Among the actives, Industrial and Commercial Bank of China sank 0.70 percent, while Bank of China fell 0.33 percent, China Construction Bank shed 0.55 percent, China Merchants Bank rose 0.04 percent, Bank of Communications dropped 0.89 percent, China Life Insurance skidded 1.10 percent, Jiangxi Copper strengthened 1.35 percent, Yankuang Energy gained 0.76 percent, PetroChina added 0.59 percent, China Petroleum and Chemical (Sinopec) climbed 1.18 percent, Huaneng Power plummeted 9.62 percent, China Shenhua Energy improved 1.10 percent, Gemdale increased 0.60 percent, Poly Developments gathered 1.36 percent, China Vanke slumped 1.19 percent and Aluminum Corp of China (Chalco) and China Fortune Land Development were unchanged.

The lead from Wall Street is murky as the major averages opened mixed on Thursday. The NASDAQ remained lower throughout the session, while the Dow was higher the whole day and the S&P bounced back and forth across the unchanged line, finally finishing in the red.

The Dow jumped 194.17 points or 0.61 percent to finish at 32,033.28, while the NASDAQ tumbled 178.32 points or 1.63 percent to end at 10,792.67 and the S&P 500 fell 23.30 points or 0.61 percent to close at 3,807.30.

The continued upward move by the Dow reflected positive reaction to earnings news from the likes of Caterpillar (CAT), Honeywell (HON), McDonald's (MCD) and Merck (MRK).

The index also benefited from a positive reaction to a report from the Commerce Department showing U.S. economic activity rebounded by slightly more than expected in the third quarter following two straight quarters of contraction.

Meanwhile, a steep drop by Meta Platforms (META) weighed on the tech-heavy NASDAQ, with the Facebook parent plunging by 24.5 percent after the company reported weaker than expected Q3 earnings and disappointing guidance.

Crude oil prices climbed higher on Thursday, extending gains from the previous session amid optimism about demand growth. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for December were up $1.17 or 1.3 percent at $89.08 a barrel.