BEIJING (dpa-AFX) - The China stock market on Friday ended the three-day slide in which it had fallen almost 40 points or 1.3 percent. The Shanghai Composite Index now rests just above the 3,010-point plateau although it's likely to head south again on Monday.
The global forecast for the Asian markets is negative on pessimism over the outlook for interest rates. The European and U.S. markets were down Friday and now the Asian bourses are expected to open in similar fashion.
The SCI finished slightly higher on Friday as gains from the insurance companies were tempered by mixed performances from the financial shares and weakness from the properties.
For the day, the index rose 5.81 points or 0.19 percent to finish at 3,011.06 after trading between 2,990.92 and 3,014.85. The Shenzhen Composite Index gained 9.96 points or 0.63 percent to end at 1,601.20.
Among the actives, Industrial and Commercial Bank of China dipped 0.18 percent, while Bank of China shed 0.53 percent, Bank of Communications fell 0.48 percent, China Merchants Bank climbed 1.08 percent, China Construction Bank collected 0.53 percent, China Life Insurance spiked 2.16 percent, Ping An Insurance gathered 1.06 percent, China Shenhua Energy added 0.39 percent, PetroChina sank 0.58 percent, Gemdale dropped 0.86 percent, Poly Developments lost 0.73 percent, China Vanke slid 0.34 percent and CITIC Securities eased 0.25 percent.
The lead from Wall Street is soft as stocks opened sharply lower Friday, recovered as the day progressed but still ended in the red.
The Dow shed 43.88 points or 0.16 percent to finish at 26,922.12, while the NASDAQ lost 8.44 points or 0.10 percent to 8,161.79 and the S&P 500 fell 5.41 points or 0.18 percent to 2,990.41. For the week, the Dow jumped 1.2 percent, the NASDAQ surged 1.9 percent and the S&P rose 1.7 percent.
The early pullback followed the release of the Labor Department report showing a substantial growth in U.S. employment in June. While the data points to a rebound in the labor market, the report dampened investor hopes for a near-term interest rate cut by the Federal Reserve.
Oil futures settled modestly higher on Friday but saw a loss of 1.6 percent for the week as traders continued to weigh the commodity's near-term supply and demand prospects. West Texas Intermediate crude oil futures for August ended up $0.17 or 0.3 percent at $57.51 a barrel.
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