The China stock market turned barely lower again on Friday, one session after snapping the three-day losing streak in which it had given up more than 90 points or 2.4 percent. The Shanghai Composite Index now sits just above the 3,525-point plateau and the losses may accelerate on Monday.
The global forecast for the Asian is soft on concerns over the outlook for interest rates. The European and U.S. markets were sharply lower on Friday and the Asian markets are tipped to follow suit.
The SCI finished barely lower on Friday following losses from the oil companies and mixed performances from the financials, properties and resource stocks.
For the day, the index eased 0.51 points or 0.01 percent to finish at 3,525.10 after trading between 3,503.18 and 3,535.62. The Shenzhen Composite Index advanced 19.21 points or 0.81 percent to end at 2,378.61.
Among the actives, Bank of China shed 0.65 percent, while China Construction Bank lost 0.60 percent, China Merchants Bank sank 0.78 percent, Bank of Communications collected 0.21 percent, China Life Insurance fell 0.45 percent, Jiangxi Copper rose 0.13 percent, Aluminum Corp of China (Chalco) gained 0.62 percent, Yanzhou Coal tanked 2.63 percent, PetroChina retreated 1.53 percent, China Petroleum and Chemical (Sinopec) plunged 2.67 percent, Baoshan Iron dropped 0.71 percent, Gemdale declined 1.24 percent, Poly Developments slid 0.93 percent, China Vanke tumbled 1.72 percent, China Fortune Land plummeted 3.24 percent and Industrial and Commercial Bank of China and Beijing Capital Development were unchanged.
The lead from Wall Street is decidedly negative as stocks opened lower on Friday and remained in the red throughout the session.
The Dow plunged 533.37 points or 1.58 percent to finish at 33,290.08, while the NASDAQ dropped 130.97 points or 0.92 percent to end at 14,030.38 and the S&P 500 sank 55.41 points or 1.31 percent to close at 4,166.45.
For the week, the Dow plunged 3.4 percent, the NASDAQ dipped 0.3 percent and the S&P fell 1.9 percent.
Concerns about the outlook for monetary policy continued to weigh on the markets following recent Federal Reserve comments. The Fed's forecast for two interest rates hikes in 2023 has led to speculation that the central bank will soon start tapering its asset purchases.
In addition, Federal Reserve Bank of St Louis President James Bullard suggested that rates could be hiked as early as next year, touching off a wave of selling.
Crude oil prices moved higher on Friday amid optimism about energy demand in the U.S. thanks to reopening of businesses after lockdowns. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for July rose $0.60 or 0.8 percent at $71.64 a barrel. WTI Crude oil futures gained 1 percent in the week.
Closer to home, China will see the latest prime rate figures for its one-year and five-year loans later today; previously, they were at 3.85 percent and 4.65 percent, respectively.
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