China Shares May See Additional Support On Thursday

(RTTNews) - The China stock market on Wednesday ended the three-day losing streak in which it had stumbled almost 70 points or 1.8 percent. The Shanghai Composite Index now sits above the 3,910-point plateau and it may tick higher again on Thursday.

The global forecast for the Asian markets is murky amid rising tensions between the world's two largest economies. The European markets were mostly lower and the U.S. bourses were mostly higher and the Asian markets figure to split the difference.

The SCI finished sharply higher on Wednesday following gains from the financials and resource stocks, while the properties and oil companies were soft.

For the day, the index improved 46.98 points or 1.22 percent to finish at 3,912.21 after trading between 3,857.67 and 3,912.29. The Shenzhen Composite Index jumped 38.17 points or 1.56 percent to end at 2,478.00.

Among the actives, Industrial and Commercial Bank of China slumped 0.53 percent, while Agricultural Bank of China jumped 1.96 percent, China Merchants Bank collected 0.58 percent, Bank of Communications rose 0.29 percent, China Life Insurance jumped 1.80 percent, Jiangxi Copper spiked 2.88 percent, Aluminum Corp of China (Chalco) rallied 2.66 percent, Yankuang Energy sank 0.63 percent, PetroChina fell 0.48 percent, China Petroleum and Chemical (Sinopec) lost 0.55 percent, Huaneng Power climbed 1.09 percent, China Shenhua Energy added 0.52 percent, Gemdale dropped 0.93 percent, Poly Developments dipped 0.13 percent, China Vanke shed 0.61 percent and Bank of China was unchanged.

The lead from Wall Street is cautiously optimistic as the major averages opened higher on Wednesday but slumped midday and finished mixed.

The Dow dipped 17.15 points or 0.04 percent to finish at 46,253.31, while the NASDAQ jumped 148.38 points or 0.66 percent to end at 22,670.08 and the S&P 500 added 26.75 points or 0.40 percent to close at 6,671.06.

The continued volatility on Wall Street came as traders weighed upbeat earnings news against concerns about U.S.-China trade tensions and lingering worries about valuations.

In U.S. economic news, the Federal Reserve Bank of New York said New York manufacturing activity has seen a significant turnaround in October. Also, the Federal Reserve's Beige Book said economic activity in the U.S. has shown little change since early September.

Crude oil prices fell on Wednesday following the rapid escalation of friction between the U.S. and China, while oversupply concerns also loom. West Texas Intermediate crude for November delivery was down $0.33 or 0.56 percent at $58.37 per barrel.