BEIJING (dpa-AFX) - The China stock market on Friday snapped the two-day losing streak in which it had fallen nearly 15 points or 0.6 percent. Now at a six-month closing high, the Shanghai Composite Index ended just above the 2,330-point plateau, although the market may see renewed selling pressure on Monday.
The global forecast for the Asian markets is soft, with traders likely reluctant to make any big moves ahead of this week's Federal Reserve meeting. The European and U.S. markets were down, and the Asian bourses are tipped to open in similar fashion.
The SCI finished modestly higher on Friday following gains from the shipbuilders and financial stocks.
For the day, the index advanced 20.27 points or 0.88 percent to finish at 2,331.95 after trading between 2,302.77 and 2,331.95 on turnover of 162.1 billion yuan. The Shenzhen Composite Index gained 11.76 points or 0.92 percent to end at 1,294.79 on turnover of 184.6 billion yuan.
Among the actives, China CSSC Holdings surged by the 10 percent daily limit, while Sainty Marine spiked 6.35 percent, Bank of China collected 0.74 percent and Industrial and Commercial Bank of China added 0.56 percent.
The lead from Wall Street is negative as stocks moved mostly lower on Friday after ending the previous session nearly flat. Uncertainty about the outlook for monetary policy weighed on the markets.
The Dow fell 61.49 points or 0.4 percent to 16,987.51, while the NASDAQ dropped 24.21 points or 0.5 percent to 4,567.60 and the S&P 500 slid 11.91 points or 0.6 percent to 1,985.54. For the week, the NASDAQ fell 0.3 percent, while the Dow and the S&P 500 fell by 0.9 percent and 1.1 percent, respectively.
The weakness followed an upbeat U.S. retail sales report, which added to recently renewed concerns about the outlook for interest rates. Thomson Reuters also reported a much bigger than expected improvement in consumer sentiment in September.
The data added to speculation that the Fed may begin raising rates sooner than anticipated, with traders looking ahead to the central bank's monetary policy announcement on Wednesday.
The Fed is expected to announce a further reduction in the pace of its asset purchases, although traders are likely to pay closer attention to any clues about the outlook for rates.
Copyright RTT News/dpa-AFX