The China stock market has alternated between positive and negative finishes through the last seven trading days since the end of the two-day slide in which it had eased just two points. The Shanghai Composite Index now rests just above the 3,395-point plateau and it figures to spin its wheels on Monday.
The global forecast for the Asian is fairly flat in a traditionally slow week, with the regional bourses set to return after the long Christmas weekend and the end of the year just days away.
The SCI finished modestly higher on Friday following gains from the financial shares and resource stocks, while the properties were mixed.
For the day, the index jumped 33.45 points or 0.99 percent to finish at 3,396.56 after trading between 3,348.35 and 3,397.01. The Shenzhen Composite perked 18.45 points or 0.82 percent to end at 2,273.82.
Among the actives, Industrial and Commercial Bank of China rose 0.20 percent, while Bank of China collected 0.32 percent, China Merchants Bank added 0.35 percent, Bank of Communications was up 0.23 percent, China Life Insurance advanced 0.72 percent, Jiangxi Copper surged 5.00 percent, Aluminum Corp of China (Chalco) rallied 3.63 percent, Yanzhou Coal accelerated 2.74 percent, PetroChina perked 0.25 percent, China Petroleum and Chemical (Sinopec) increased 0.25 percent, Baoshan Iron spiked 2.02 percent, Gemdale dipped 0.22 percent, Poly Developments climbed 0.77 percent, China Fortune Land skidded 1.61 percent, China Vanke gained 0.57 percent and China Construction Bank was unchanged.
The lead from Wall Street suggests mild upside as stocks opened higher on Thursday and remained mostly positive to finish in the green in a half-day session on Christmas Eve.
The Dow added 70.04 points or 0.23 percent to finish at 30,199.87, while the NASDAQ gained 33.62 points or 0.26 percent to end at 12,804.73 and the S&P 500 rose 13.05 points or 0.35 percent to close at 3,703.06. For the holiday-shortened week, the Dow rose 0.1 percent, the NASDAQ added 0.4 percent and the S&P fell 0.2 percent.
The modestly higher close on Wall Street came amid news that U.K. and the European Union have reached a post-Brexit trade agreement. The news of the agreement came just a week before a Dec. 31 deadline, offsetting recent concerns about a potential no-deal Brexit.
The rollout of coronavirus vaccines has also propped up hopes that the economic recovery can gain momentum next year. However, uncertainty about the stimulus package approved by Congress kept buying interest subdued as President Donald Trump has expressed opposition to the bill.
Oil service stocks showed a significant move to the downside, however, with the Philadelphia Oil Service Index falling by 1.5 percent. The weakness in the sector came as the price of crude oil lingers near the unchanged line.
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