Win Streak May Continue For China Stock Market

(RTTNews) - The China stock market has moved higher in three straight sessions, collecting almost 10 points or 0.3 percent along the way. The Shanghai Composite Index now sits just beneath the 2,870-point plateau and it may add to its winnings on Friday.

The global forecast for the Asian markets is upbeat in easing concerns for the health of the United States economy. The European markets were mixed and little changed and the U.S. bourses were sharply higher and the Asian markets figure to follow the latter lead.

The SCI finished barely higher on Thursday as gains from the financials and properties were offset by weakness from the oil and resource companies.

For the day, the index rose 0.07 points or 0.00 percent to finish at 2,869.90 after trading between 2,850.87 and 2,886.40. The Shenzhen Composite Index dipped 1.84 points or 0.12 percent to end at 1,564.26.

Among the actives, Industrial and Commercial Bank of China advanced 0.86 percent, while China Merchants Bank climbed 1.11 percent, Agricultural Bank of China collected 0.44 percent, China Life Insurance fell 0.24 percent, Jiangxi Copper shed 0.35 percent, Aluminum Corp of China (Chalco) lost 0.47 percent, Yankuang Energy tumbled 1.73 percent, PetroChina slumped 0.47 percent, China Petroleum and Chemical (Sinopec) slid 0.31 percent, Huaneng Power retreated 1.46 percent, China Shenhua Energy perked 0.03 percent, Gemdale surged 5.57 percent, Poly Developments added 0.12 percent, China Vanke jumped 1.91 percent and Bank of China and China Construction Bank were unchanged.

The lead from Wall Street is broadly positive as the major averages opened higher and continued to accelerate throughout the day, ending near session highs.

The Dow surged 683.04 points or 1.76 percent to finish at 39,446.49, while the NASDAQ rallied 464.22 points or 2.87 percent to end at 16,660.02 and the S&P 500 jumped 119.81 points or 2.30 percent to close at 5,319.31.

The rally on Wall Street came after the Labor Department released a report showing first-time claims for U.S. unemployment benefits pulled back by more than expected last week.

The data helped ease concerns about the strength of the labor market, which have contributed to recent selling on Wall Street.

On the corporate scene, athletic apparel company Under Armour (UAA) and pharmaceutical giant Eli Lilly (LLY) bounced higher after strong results, while Warner Brothers Discovery (WBD) slumped after showing soft numbers.

Oil futures settled higher on Thursday, amid possible supply disruptions due to Middle East tensions, and on hopes of increased demand in the U.S. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for September ended higher by $0.96 or 1.28 percent at $76.19 a barrel.