China Stock Market May Extend Winning Streak

(RTTNews) - The China stock market has moved higher in back-to-back trading days, gathering almost 20 points or 0.8 percent along the way. The Shanghai Composite Index now rests just above the 2,815-point plateau and it's got another green light again on Friday.

The global forecast for the Asian markets is cautiously optimistic as Thursday's selloff on recession fears may have been overdone. The European markets were down and the U.S. bourses were mostly higher - and the Asian markets are tipped to follow the latter lead.

The SCI finished modestly higher on Thursday following gains from the property stocks and the financial shares.

For the day, the index added 6.89 points or 0.25 percent to finish at 2,815.80 after trading between 2,756.83 and 2,815.90. The Shenzhen Composite Index gained 8.07 points or 0.53 percent to end at 1,517.07.

Among the actives, China Shenhua Energy and Industrial and Commercial Bank of China both added 0.54 percent, while China Construction Bank and Bank of China both collected 0.28 percent, China Merchants Bank was up 0.03 percent, China Life Insurance advanced 1.05 percent, Ping An Insurance climbed 1.49 percent, PetroChina shed 0.65 percent, Gemdale soared 2.12 percent, Poly Developments surged 2.35 percent, China Vanke rose 1.00 percent, CITIC Securities gained 0.24 percent and China Petroleum and Chemical (Sinopec) was unchanged.

The lead from Wall Street provides little clarity as stocks showed a lack of direction on Thursday, bouncing back and forth across the unchanged line before eventually closing mixed.

The Dow added 99.97 points or 0.39 percent to 25,579.39, while the NASDAQ fell 7.32 points or 0.09 percent to 7,766.62 and the S&) 500 rose 7.00 points or 0.25 percent to 2,847.60.

The choppy trading on Wall Street came as traders digested an avalanche of economic data, including mixed reports on retail sales and industrial output.

The Commerce Department reported U.S. retail sales climbed by much more than expected in July, but the Federal Reserve unexpectedly noted a modest drop in industrial production in July.

Also, the New York and Philadelphia Federal Reserves saw continued growth in manufacturing activity in August, while the Labor Department reported a bigger than expected increase in first-time claims for U.S. unemployment benefits last week.

Crude oil prices saw further downside on Thursday, extending losses from the previous day on continued concerns about the outlook for global demand. China's threat to retaliate against U.S. tariffs weighed heavily on oil prices as West Texas Intermediate fell $0.48 or 0.87 percent to $54.47.