BEIJING (dpa-AFX) - The China stock market picked up less than a single point on Friday - but that was enough to halt the two-day slide in which it had tumbled more than 50 points or 1.8 percent. The Shanghai Composite Index remains just above the 2,850-point plateau and it's expected see further support on Monday.
The global forecast for the Asian markets is upbeat on easing trade concerns and a rebound in crude oil prices. The European and U.S. markets were up on Friday and the Asian bourses re tipped to open in similar fashion.
The SCI finished barely higher on Friday as gains from the financials and insurance companies were offset by weakness from the oil companies and a mixed picture from the property sector.
For the day, the index added 0.48 points or 0.02 percent to finish at 2,852.99 after trading between 2,846.02 and 2,871.86. The Shenzhen Composite Index shed 7.34 points or 0.49 percent to end at 1,496.03.
Among the actives, Industrial and Commercial Bank of China added 0.88 percent, while China Construction Bank collected 0.72 percent, China Merchants Bank gained 0.75 percent, China Life Insurance advanced 0.64 percent, Ping An Insurance perked 1.41 percent, PetroChina shed 0.56 percent, China Petroleum and Chemical (Sinopec) skidded 1.28 percent, China Shenhua Energy gathered 0.77 percent, Gemdale lost 0.60 percent, China Vanke was up 0.37 percent and Poly Developments and Bank of China were unchanged.
The lead from Wall Street is positive as stocks opened higher on Friday. They pulled back from session highs but remained in the green, cutting into recent losses.
The Dow added 95.22 points or 0.37 percent to finish at 25,585.69, while the NASDAQ rose 8.73 points or 0.11 percent to 7,637.01 and the S&P gained 3.82 points or 0.14 percent to 2,826.06. For the week, the Dow shed 0.7 percent, the NASDAQ lost 2.3 percent and the S&P fell 1.2 percent.
Bargain hunting contributed to the early strength on Wall Street as traders looked to pick up stocks at reduced levels following Thursday's steep losses.
The markets also benefited from easing trade concerns as President Donald Trump said he remains hopeful of a U.S.-China trade deal, noting he will meet with Chinese President Xi Jinping at the G20 summit next month.
The subsequent pullback by stocks was partly due to news that J.P. Morgan economists slashed their second quarter GDP growth forecast to 1 percent from 2.25 percent.
Crude oil futures moved higher Friday, rebounding from recent losses, after trade worries faded. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for June ended up $0.72 or 1.2 percent at $58.63 a barrel.
Closer to home, China will release April figures for industrial profits later today; in March, profits were up 13.9 percent on year.
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