BEIJING (dpa-AFX) - The China stock market has finished higher in two straight sessions, collecting almost a dozen points or 0.5 percent along the way. The Shanghai Composite Index now rests just above the 2,590-point plateau and it's looking at a fairly flat lead for Friday.
The global forecast for the Asian markets is mixed and flat, with global trade concerns offset by support from crude oil prices. The European markets were up and the U.S. bourses were mixed and little changed - and the Asian markets figure to follow the latter lead.
The SCI finished modestly higher on Thursday following gains from the financial shares and property stocks, while the oil and insurance companies were mixed.
For the day, the index gained 10.69 points or 0.41 percent to finish at 2,591.69 after trading between 2,569.70 and 2,597.29. The Shenzhen Composite Index rose 6.02 points or 0.46 percent to end at 1,322.30.
Among the actives, Industrial and Commercial Bank of China added 0.37 percent, while Bank of China collected 0.56 percent, China Construction Bank gained 0.45 percent, China Merchants Bank spiked 2.61 percent, China Life Insurance shed 0.23 percent, Ping An Insurance jumped 1.58 percent, PetroChina rose 0.28 percent, China Petroleum and Chemical (Sinopec) advanced 0.93 percent, China Shenhua Energy lost 0.26 percent, Gemdale perked 0.71 percent, Poly Developments gathered 0.25 percent, China Vanke was up 0.40 percent and CITIC Securities soared 2.11 percent.
The lead from Wall Street offers little clarity as stocks showed a lack of direction on Thursday, bouncing back and forth across the unchanged line before finishing mixed.
The Dow shed 22.38 points or 0.09 percent to 24,553.24, while the NASDAQ added 47.69 points or 0.68 percent to 7,073.46 and the S&P rose 3.63 points or 0.14 percent to 2,642.33.
The choppy trading on Wall Street came after Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross told CNBC the U.S. is 'miles and miles' from a trade deal with China. The comments from Ross come ahead of Chinese Vice Premier Liu He's trip to Washington next week for the next round of trade negotiations.
Concerns about a U.S.-China trade deal offset positive sentiment from a Labor Department report showing initial jobless claims fell to their lowest level in almost 50 years last week. Also, the Conference Board noted a modest decrease by its index of leading U.S. economic indicators in December.
Crude oil futures ended higher on Thursday, driven by reports the U.S. may impose sanctions on Venezuela's crude exports. Crude oil futures for March ended up $0.51 or 1 percent at $53.13 a barrel.
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