BEIJING (dpa-AFX) - The China stock market has finished lower now in three straight sessions, tumbling more than 120 percent or 3.9 percent in that span. The Shanghai Composite Index ended just above the 3,260-point plateau, although the market may snap its slide on Friday.
The global forecast for the Asian markets is positive, thanks mainly to upbeat economic news from the United States. The European and U.S. markets ended firmly higher, and the Asian bourses are expected to follow that lead.
The SCI finished sharply lower again on Thursday with broadly based losses - particularly among the financial shares.
For the day, the index tumbled 43.43 points or 1.31 percent to end at 3,262.30 after trading between 3,234.24 and 3,286.79 on turnover of 296.4 billion yuan. The Shenzhen Composite Index dipped 9.48 points or 0.62 percent to end at 1,529.38 on turnover of 219.9 billion yuan.
Among the actives, Guoyuan Securities shed 4.1 percent, while Western Securities dropped 3.9 percent, China Life Insurance fell 2.3 percent, Industrial and Commercial Bank of China lost 2.8 percent, Bank Of China dipped 3.3 percent and China Petroleum and Chemical (Sinopec) tumbled 2.84 percent.
The lead from Wall Street is firm as stocks showed a strong move to the upside on Thursday, helping the markets recover from the sell-off in the two previous sessions.
The Dow jumped 225.48 points or 1.3 percent to 17,416.85, while the NASDAQ surged 45.41 points or 1 percent to 4,683.41 and the S&P 500 advanced 19.09 points or 1 percent to 2,021.25.
The support was partly attributed to comments Federal Reserve Chair Janet Yellen reportedly made to a group of Senate Democrats at a private luncheon. While Yellen told the lawmakers the U.S. economy is strong, she expressed some concerns about the situation in Europe - easing concerns about the outlook for interest rates.
Positive sentiment may also have been generated by a report from the Labor Department showing that initial jobless claims fell to a fourteen-year low in the week ended January 24.
And a separate report released by the National Association of Realtors unexpectedly showed a sharp drop in U.S. pending home sales in December.
Copyright RTT News/dpa-AFX