BEIJING (dpa-AFX) - The China stock market has finished sharply higher in back-to-back sessions, soaring more than 200 points or 6.5 percent along the way. The Shanghai Composite Index ended just below the 3,325-point plateau, and the market is likely to see more volatility again on Thursday.
The global forecast for the Asian markets continues to be positive on optimism about the monetary policy announcement from the European Central Bank later today - which is expected to unveil additional stimulus. The European and U.S. markets ended in the green, and the Asian bourses are tipped to follow suit.
The SCI finished sharply higher again on Wednesday with gains across the board - particularly among the financials and energy producers.
For the day, the index skyrocketed 150.56 points or 4.74 percent to finish at 3,323.61 after trading between 3,178.34 and 3,337.00 on turnover of 473.8 billion yuan. The Shenzhen Composite Index jumped 35.45 points or 2.40 percent to end at 1,512.29 on turnover of 317.7 billion yuan.
Among the actives, Haitong Securities surged by the 10 percent daily limit, while Citic Securities spiked 7.72 percent, Industrial and Commercial Bank of China advanced 6.03 percent, Ping An Insurance Group soared 9.54 percent, PetroChina climbed 7.27 percent, China Petroleum and Chemical (Sinopec) jumped 4.43 percent, Bank of China added 9.9 percent and Agricultural Bank of China collected 5.3 percent.
The lead from Wall Street is cautiously optimistic as stocks fluctuated on Wednesday but managed to finish higher - ending in positive territory for the third consecutive session.
The Dow edged up 39.05 points or 0.2 percent at 17,554.28, while the NASDAQ rose 12.58 points or 0.3 percent to 4,667.42 and the S&P 500 climbed 9.57 points or 0.5 percent to 2,032.12.
Ahead of the ECB meeting, the bank's executive board has proposed purchasing 50 billion euros worth of bonds per month until the end of 2016.
An increase by the price of crude oil also generated some buying interest, as crude for March delivery ended the day up $1.31 at $47.78 a barrel after tumbling $2.66 to $46.47 a barrel on Tuesday.
Copyright RTT News/dpa-AFX