China Shares May Open To The Upside On Monday

(RTTNews) - The China stock market bounced higher again on Friday, one day after ending the four-day winning streak in which it had climbed more than 120 points or 3 percent. The Shanghai Composite Index now sits just above the 4,120-point plateau and it may see additional support 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 expected to follow that lead.

The SCI finished modestly higher on Friday as gains from the oil and resource companies were capped by weakness from the financial shares and property stocks.

For the day, the index advanced 37.45 points or 0.92 percent to finish at 4,120.43 after trading between 4,083.62 and 4,121.72. The Shenzhen Composite Index jumped 35.06 points or 1.34 percent to end at 2,660.05.

Among the actives, Industrial and Commercial Bank of China collected 0.26 percent, while Bank of China shed 0.54 percent, Agricultural Bank of China lost 0.40 percent, China Merchants Bank sank 0.67 percent, Bank of Communications slipped 0.28 percent, China Life Insurance fell 0.39 percent, Jiangxi Copper rallied 2.67 percent, Aluminum Corp of China (Chalco) spiked 2.93 percent, PetroChina improved 0.71 percent, China Petroleum and Chemical (Sinopec) jumped 1.76 percent, Huaneng Power eased 0.14 percent, China Shenhua Energy vaulted 2.41 percent, Gemdale and Poly Developments both dipped 0.30 percent, China Vanke climbed 1.22 percent and Yankuang Energy was unchanged.

The lead from Wall Street is positive as the major averages opened higher on Friday and remained in the green throughout the trading day, ending near session highs.

The Dow jumped 237.96 points or 0.48 percent to finish at a record 49,504.07, while the NASDAQ rallied 191.33 points or 0.81 percent to end at 23,671.35 and the S&P 500 added 44.82 points or 0.65 percent to close at 6,966.28, also a record.

For the week, the Dow surged 2.3 percent, the NASDAQ jumped 1.9 percent and the S&P climbed 1.6 percent.

The strength on Wall Street reflected a positive reaction to the Labor Department's closely watched report on employment in December. With the report showing employment increased less than expected in December, the data has led to optimism about the outlook for interest rates.

While the Federal Reserve is still widely expected to leave interest rates unchanged at its next meeting later this month, the report has increased confidence in further rate cuts later this year.

Crude oil prices surged on Friday amid near-term supply concerns due to ongoing geopolitical tensions, a decline in U.S. inventories, and OPEC's decision to pause output increases. West Texas Intermediate crude for February delivery was up $1.58 or 2.74 percent at $59.34 per barrel.