Win Streak May Continue For China Stock Market

(RTTNews) - The China stock market has tracked higher in back-to-back sessions, gathering more than 25 points or 0.7 percent along the way. The Shanghai Composite Index now sits just beneath the 3,155-point plateau and it may add to its winnings on Monday.

The global forecast for the Asian markets suggests mild upside on conflicting factors in the outlook for interest rates. The European markets were up and the U.S. bourses were mixed and flat and the Asian markets figure to split the difference.

The SCI finished barely higher on Friday following gains from the financials and properties, while the resource stocks were mixed.

For the day, the index perked 0.23 points or 0.01 percent to finish at 3,154.55 after trading between 3,137.15 and 3,163.14. The Shenzhen Composite Index sank 12.83 points or 0.71 percent to end at 1,783.77.

Among the actives, Industrial and Commercial Bank of China collected 0.37 percent, while China Construction Bank fell 0.28 percent, China Merchants Bank rallied 2.24 percent, Bank of Communications improved 0.73 percent, China Life Insurance strengthened 1.25 percent, Jiangxi Copper surged 3.16 percent, Aluminum Corp of China (Chalco) slid 0.25 percent, Yankuang Energy added 0.53 percent, PetroChina was up 0.10 percent, China Petroleum and Chemical (Sinopec) perked 0.16 percent, Huaneng Power advanced 0.98 percent, China Shenhua Energy rose 0.29 percent, Gemdale soared 5.03 percent, Poly Developments skyrocketed 5.54 percent, China Vanke rallied 3.56 percent and Bank of China was unchanged.

The lead from Wall Street is cautiously optimistic as the major averages opened higher on Friday, gave ground and finished mixed and little changed.

The Dow added 125.08 points or 0.3 percent to finish at 39,512.84, while the NASDAQ dipped 5.40 points or 0.1 percent to close at 16,340.87 and the S&P 500 rose 8.60 points or 0.2 percent to end at 5,222.68.

For the week, the NASDAQ jumped by 1.14 percent, while the S&P 500 and the Dow surged by 1.85 percent and 2.16 percent, respectively.

The early strength on Wall Street partly reflected recently renewed optimism about the outlook for interest rates. Recent data has pointed to some softness in the U.S. labor market, increasing investor confidence the Federal Reserve will lower interest rates in the coming months.

However, the early buying interest was partly offset by a report from the University of Michigan showing a sharp drop in U.S. consumer sentiment in May. The report also showed a notable increase in year-ahead inflation expectations.

Crude oil prices fell on Friday, on concerns the Federal Reserve may keep interest rates higher for a longer period, and uncertainty about the outlook for oil demand due to signs of slowing economic growth. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for June sank $1.00 at $78.26 a barrel.