Higher Open Called For China Stock Market

(RTTNews) - The China stock market on Friday ended the two-day slide in which it had given up more than 90 points or 2.2 percent. The Shanghai Composite Index now sits just above the 4,110-point plateau and it may see additional support on Monday.

The global forecast for the Asian markets is cautiously optimistic on hopes for an end to the U.S.-Iran war. The European and U.S. markets were up and the Asian bourses are expected to open in similar fashion.

The SCI finished modestly higher on Friday following gains from the resource stocks and mixed performances from the financial shares and properties.

For the day, the index gained 35.62 points or 0.87 percent to finish at 4,112.90 after trading between 4,067.75 and 4,120.09. The Shenzhen Composite Index rallied 62.41 points or 2.23 percent to end at 2,862.78.

Among the actives, Industrial and Commercial Bank of China added 0.42 percent, while Bank of China collected 1.03 percent, Agricultural Bank of China slumped 0.77 percent, China Merchants Bank slipped 0.35 percent, China Life Insurance lost 0.68 percent, Jiangxi Copper soared 4.14 percent, Aluminum Corp of China (Chalco) rallied 2.86 percent, Yankuang Energy retreated 1.53 percent, PetroChina tumbled 1.86 percent, China Petroleum and Chemical (Sinopec) climbed 1.02 percent, China Shenhua Energy shed 0.62 percent, Gemdale rose 0.37 percent, Poly Developments sank 0.85 percent, China Vanke fell 0.29 percent and Huaneng Power and Bank of Communications were unchanged.

The lead from Wall Street is upbeat as the major averages opened higher on Friday and remained modestly in the green throughout the trading day.

The Dow climbed 294.00 points or 0.58 percent to finish at 50,579.70, while the NASDAQ rose 50.87 points or 0.19 percent to close at 26,343.97 and the S&P 500 added 27.75 points or 0.37 percent to end at 7,473.47.

For the week, the Dow surged 2.1 percent, the S&P 500 jumped 0.9 percent and the NASDAQ increased by 0.5 percent.

The strength on Wall Street came amid persistent optimism about an end to the U.S.-Iran war even as crude oil and gasoline prices remained elevated going into the busy Memorial Day weekend.

In economic news, a report from the University of Michigan showed that consumer sentiment in the U.S. deteriorated much more than previously estimated in the month of May.

Crude oil prices ticked higher on Friday as traders weighed concerns of an impending crude oil inventory shortage against the positive signals from U.S.-Iran peace talks. West Texas Intermediate crude for July delivery was up $0.10 or 0.10 percent at $96.45 per barrel.