BEIJING (dpa-AFX) - The China stock market has climbed higher in four straight sessions, advancing more than 100 points or 3.4 percent along the way. The Shanghai Composite Index now rests just above the 2,985-point plateau and it's called higher again on Friday.
The global forecast for the Asian markets is positive on optimism that the trade war between the United States and China may be nearing an end. The European and U.S. markets were up and the Asian markets are expected to follow suit.
The SCI finished modestly higher on Thursday as gains from the financials and oil and insurance companies were dented by profit taking from the property sector.
For the day, the index jumped 28.45 points or 0.96 percent to finish at 2,985.86 after trading between 2,972.66 and 3,015.84. The Shenzhen Composite Index gained 15.23 points or 0.93 percent to end at 1,651.63.
Among the actives, Industrial and Commercial Bank of China collected 0.55 percent, while Bank of China added 0.56 percent, China Construction Bank climbed 1.29 percent, China Merchants Bank jumped 1.81 percent, China Life Insurance advanced 1.16 percent, Ping An Insurance gathered 1.05 percent, PetroChina perked 0.65 percent, China Petroleum and Chemical (Sinopec) rose 0.39 percent, China Shenhua Energy sank 0.87 percent, Gemdale dropped 0.94 percent, Poly Developments skidded 1.15 percent, CITIC Securities soared 2.14 percent and China Vanke was unchanged.
The lead from Wall Street is solid as stocks showed another strong move to the upside on Thursday, extending gains from the previous session and pushing the major averages to their bets closing levels in more than a month.
The Dow added 372.68 points or 1.41 percent to 26,728.15, while the NASDAQ jumped 139.95 points or 1.75 percent to 8,116.83 and the S&P 500 rose 38.22 points or 1.30 percent to 2,976.00.
The rally on Wall Street partly reflected a positive reaction to news that the U.S. and China plan to hold high level trade talks in early October. U.S. and Chinese officials will purportedly hold deputy-level talks later this month in preparation for the meeting in October.
In economic news, payroll processor ADP noted stronger than expected private sector job growth in August, while the Institute for Supply Management noted a jump in the pace of growth in U.S. service sector activity last month.
Crude oil futures surrendered early gains and settled flat on Thursday as increased production from OPEC and Russia wiped out gains after U.S. stockpiles dropped. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for October ended up $0.04 or 0.07 percent at $56.30 a barrel.
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