BEIJING (dpa-AFX) - The China stock market has finished sharply lower in three straight sessions, plunging almost 230 points or 6.5 percent in that span. The Shanghai Composite Index now rests just above the 3,260-point plateau and it's expected to open in the red again on Friday.
The global forecast for the Asian markets is broadly negative thanks to growing concerns over interest rates and a drop in crude oil prices. The European and U.S. markets were sharply lower and the Asian bourses figure to follow suit.
The SCI finished sharply lower again on Thursday following losses from the financials, oil companies and insurance stocks.
For the day, the index plummeted 47.21 points or 1.43 percent to finish at 3,262.05 after trading between 3,225.71 and 3,307.16. But the Shenzhen Composite Index surged 20.18 points or 1.18 percent to end at 1,734.57.
Among the actives, Industrial and Commercial Bank of China plummeted 4.35 percent, while Agricultural Bank of China tumbled 3.36 percent, Bank of Communications dropped 4.04 percent, China Construction Bank skidded 3.96 percent, China Life plunged 5.37 percent, Ping An Insurance shed 3.35 percent, PetroChina retreated 2.45 percent, China Petroleum and Chemical (Sinopec) lost 6.01 percent, Vanke fell 0.70 percent, Gemdale added 0.15 percent and Jiangxi Copper was down 6.13 percent.
The lead from Wall Street is brutal as stocks quickly shrugged off an early move to the upside on Thursday, and tumbled deep into negative territory.
The Dow shed 1,032.89 points or 4.15 percent to 23,860.46, while the NASDAQ lost 274.82 points or 3.90 percent to 6,777.16 and the S&P 500 fell 100.66 points or 3.75 percent to 2,581.00.
The lead from Wall Street is awful as the mid-day sell-off sent the Dow into correction territory. Stocks have tumbled from record highs over the past week as traders grew concerned about inflation and higher interest rates.
In economic news, Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas President Robert Kaplan said on Thursday that the recent correction in U.S. stocks will have little impact on the broader economy, a sign that the FOMC still plans to raise interest rates at least three times in 2018.
Crude oil futures fell Thursday, slipping to their lowest in five weeks due to a stronger dollar and demand concerns. WTI light sweet crude oil was down 64 cents or 1 percent to $61.15/bbl.
Closer to home, China will release January figures for consumer and producer prices later this morning.
Consumer prices are tipped to gain 1.5 percent on year, slowing from 1.8 percent in December. Producer prices are expected to rise 4.2 percent on year, slowing from 4.9 percent a month earlier.
Copyright RTT News/dpa-AFX