BEIJING (dpa-AFX) - The China stock market has alternated between positive and negative finishes through the last five trading days since the end of the six-day slide in which it had retreated more than 180 points or 7 percent. The Shanghai Composite Index now rests just beneath the 2,810-point plateau although it's expected to move lower again on Thursday.
The global forecast for the Asian markets is emphatically negative thanks to worrying signs about the health of the global economy. The European and U.S. markets finished sharply lower and the Asian markets are tipped to follow suit.
The SCI finished modestly higher on Wednesday as gains from the energy producers and insurance companies were capped by weakness from the property stocks and a mixed picture from the financial sector.
For the day, the index collected 11.66 points or 0.42 percent to finish at 2,808.91 after trading between 2,807.72 and 2,829.89. The Shenzhen Composite Index rose 10.37 points or 0.69 percent to end at 1,509.00.
Among the actives, Industrial and Commercial Bank of China collected 0.36 percent, while Bank of China and China Construction Bank both shed 0.28 percent, China Merchants Bank rose 0.03 percent, China Life Insurance added 0.18 percent, Ping An Insurance was up 0.04 percent, China Petroleum and Chemical (Sinopec) gained 0.61 percent, China Shenhua Energy perked 0.55 percent, Gemdale sank 1.01 percent, Poly Developments lost 0.37 percent, China Vanke declined 0.73 percent, CITIC Securities gathered 0.38 percent and PetroChina was unchanged.
The lead from Wall Street broadly negative as stocks showed a substantial pullback on Wednesday, sending the major averages to two-month closing lows.
The Dow plummeted 800.49 points or 3.05 percent to 25,479, while the NASDAQ tumbled 242.42 points or 3.02 percent to 7,773.94 and the S&P 500 plunged 85.72 points or 2.93 percent to 2,840.60.
The sell-off on Wall Street came amid concerns about a potential recession after the yield on the benchmark ten-year note dropped below the yield on the two-year note - which is widely seen as an indicator of a recession.
The yield on the closely watched thirty-year bond also showed a notable decrease on the day, tumbling to a new record low.
Crude oil prices cratered Wednesday on increasing worries about the outlook for global demand and concern of a supply glut after data showed that U.S. crude oil inventories rose by 1.6 million barrels last week. West Texas Intermediate tumbled $1.71 or 3.01 percent to $55.02 per barrel.
Copyright RTT News/dpa-AFX