Continued Consolidation Called For China Stock Market

(RTTNews) - The China stock market headed south again on Thursday, one day after ending the four-day losing streak in which it had dropped almost 85 points or 2.1 percent. The Shanghai Composite Index now sits just above the 4,000-point plateau and it's expected to open in the red again on Friday.

The global forecast for the Asian markets is weak on concerns over the Middle East conflict, although easing oil prices may limit the downside. The European and U.S. markets were down and the Asian bourses are expected to open in similar fashion.

The SCI finished sharply lower on Thursday following losses from the property stocks and energy companies, although the financial shares offered support.

For the day, the index dropped 56.43 points or 1.39 percent to finish at 4,006.55 after trading between 3,994.17 and 4,042.02. The Shenzhen Composite Index tumbled 60.93 points or 2.27 percent to end at 2,619.95.

Among the actives, Industrial and Commercial Bank of China jumped 1.89 percent, while Bank of China collected 0.55 percent, Agricultural Bank of China vaulted 1.34 percent. China Merchants Bank shed 0.38 percent. Bank of Communications dipped 0.14 percent, China Life Insurance retreated 1.60 percent, Jiangxi Copper plunged 5.37 percent, Aluminum Corp of China (Chalco) plummeted 6.41 percent, Yankuang Energy rallied 3.66 percent, PetroChina soared 5.23 percent, China Petroleum and Chemical (Sinopec) vaulted 2.61 percent, Huaneng Power eased 0.13 percent, China Shenhua Energy jumped 4.19 percent, Gemdale tanked 1.95 percent, Poly Developments surrendered 1.89 percent and China Vanke stumbled 2.81 percent.

The lead from Wall Street is soft as the major averages opened sharply lower on Thursday and stayed that way for most of the session, although a late rally pared the damage to mild by the day's end.

The Dow dropped 203.72 points or 0.44 percent to finish at 46,021.43, while the NASDAQ sank 61.73 points or 0.28 percent to close at 22,090.69 and the S&P 500 fell 18.21 points or 0.27 percent to close at 6,606.49.

The early weakness on Wall Street came amid concerns about the escalation of the war in the Middle East following attacks on critical energy infrastructure across the region.

However, after soaring to nearly $120 a barrel following the latest attacks, Brent crude oil futures have pulled back sharply, contributing to the recovery attempt by stocks.

In U.S. economic news, the Labor Department released a report showing an unexpected dip in first-time claims for U.S. unemployment benefits last week.

Crude oil prices dipped on Thursday as traders dissected U.S. inventory data showing ample supply against production and supply disruption concerns due to the Middle East war. West Texas Intermediate crude for April delivery was down $0.18 or 0.19 percent at $96.14 per barrel.