China Bourse May Crack Resistance At 3,900 Points

(RTTNews) - The China stock market has finished higher in two straight sessions, collecting almost 25 points or 0.6 percent along the way. The Shanghai Composite Index now sits just shy of the 2,890-point plateau and it's expected to open to the upside again on Monday.

The global forecast for the Asian markets is upbeat on an improved outlook for interest rates. The European and U.S. markets were up and the Asian bourses are tipped to open in similar fashion.

The SCI finished slightly higher on Friday as gains from the resource stocks were offset by weakness form the properties and financials.

For the day, the index gained 13.34 points or 0.34 percent to finish at 3,888.60 after trading between 3,856.25 and 3,888.89. The Shenzhen Composite Index advanced 23.27 points or 0.96 percent to end at 2,453.81.

Among the actives, Industrial and Commercial Bank of China was down 0.61 percent, while Bank of China stumbled 1.62 percent, Agricultural Bank of China contracted 0.74 percent, China Merchants Bank fell 0.56 percent, Bank of Communications surrendered 1.56 percent, China Life Insurance dropped 0.98 percent, Jiangxi Copper rallied 1.49 percent, Aluminum Corp of China (Chalco) added 0.67 percent, Yankuang Energy lost 0.64 percent, PetroChina skidded 1.02 percent, China Petroleum and Chemical (Sinopec) shed 0.52 percent, Huaneng Power tanked 1.77 percent, China Shenhua Energy sank 0.75 percent, Gemdale slumped 1.14 percent, Poly Developments eased 0.15 percent and China Vanke tumbled 1.65 percent.

The lead from Wall Street is positive as the major averages opened higher on Friday and remained in the green throughout the day for a fifth straight session.

The Dow jumped 289.30 points or 0.61 percent to finish at 47,716.42, while the NASDAQ rallied 151.00 points or 0.65 percent to end at 23,365.69 and the S&P 500 climbed 36.48 points or 0.54 percent to close at 6,849.09.

For the holiday-shortened week, the NASDAQ spiked 4.9 percent, the S&P 500 jumped 3.7 percent and the Dow climbed 3.2 percent.

Renewed optimism about the outlook for interest rates has contributed to the recent rebound following dovish comments from leading Federal Reserve officials. CME Group's FedWatch Tool is currently indicating an 86.9 percent chance the central bank will cut rates by another quarter point at its December meeting.

Trading activity remained somewhat subdued, however, as some traders remained away from their desks following the Thanksgiving holiday.

Crude oil prices edged higher on Friday a proposed peace deal to end the Russia-Ukraine war remains in limbo. West Texas Intermediate crude for January delivery was up $0.18 or 0.31 percent at $58.83 per barrel.