The China stock market headed south again on Friday, one session after ending the two-day slide in which it had eased just two points. The Shanghai Composite Index now rests just above the 3,390-point plateau and it's likely to stay in that neighborhood on Monday.
The global forecast for the Asian markets is hanging on the emergence of economic stimulus in the United States, which traders hope will pass in the hours leading up to today's market open. The European and U.S, markets ended in the red on Friday and the Asian markets will have a similarly soft lead until a coronavirus relief bill passes.
The SCI finished slightly lower on Friday as losses from the financials and properties were mitigated by support from the resource stocks.
For the day, the index fell 9.97 points or 0.29 percent to finish at 3,394.90 after trading between 3,382.75 and 3,413.81. The Shenzhen Composite Index dipped 6.91 points or 0.30 percent to end at 2,262.57.
Among the actives, Industrial and Commercial Bank of China shed 0.60 percent, while Bank of China lost 0.31 percent, China Construction Bank fell 0.62 percent, China Merchants Bank tumbled 2.16 percent, Bank of Communications dipped 0.22 percent, China Life Insurance tanked 2.26 percent, Jiangxi Copper spiked 2.34 percent, Aluminum Corp of China (Chalco) rose 0.26 percent, Yanzhou Coal soared 6.20 percent, PetroChina advanced 0.95 percent, China Petroleum and Chemical (Sinopec) added 0.24 percent, China Shenhua Energy surged 5.18 percent, Gemdale retreated 2.22 percent, Poly Developments sank 0.68 percent and China Vanke skidded 1.18 percent.
The lead from Wall Street is soft as stocks opened slightly lower on Friday and remained mostly in the red throughout the session
The Dow shed 124.35 points or 0.41 percent to finish at 30,179.05, while the NASDAQ eased 9.06 points or 0.07 percent to close at 12,755.64 and the S&P 500 fell 13.07 points or 0.35 percent to close at 3,709.41. For the week, the Dow added 0.4 percent, the NASDAQ jumped 3.1 percent and the S&P rose 1.3 percent.
The pullback on Wall Street partly reflected profit taking, as traders cashed in on recent gains after Thursday's climb to record closing highs. Apprehension for a coronavirus relief bill also nudged stocks lower.
Upbeat news on the coronavirus vaccine front helped limit the downside for the markets, with an FDA advisory panel giving a positive recommendation to Moderna's (MRNA) vaccine candidate.
Crude oil futures ended higher on Friday amid dwindling inventories and on that hopes energy demand will pick up after another coronavirus vaccine got the nod from the U.S. drug regulator. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for January ended up $0.74 or 1.5 percent at $49.10 a barrel.
Closer to home, China will provide December prime rate numbers for one- and five-year loans later today. The one year is expected to hold steady at 3.85 percent, and five-year is tipped to be unchanged at 4.65 percent.
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