BEIJING (dpa-AFX) - The China stock market has finished lower in consecutive trading days, retreating more than 40 points or 1.3 percent along the way. The Shanghai Composite Index now rests just beneath the 2,940-point plateau although it may halt its slide on Thursday.
The global forecast for the Asian markets is upbeat after the U.S. Federal Reserve's monetary policy decision as well as solid economic data. The European markets were mixed and the U.S. bourses were up and the Asian markets are tipped to follow the latter lead.
The SCI finished modestly lower on Wednesday following losses from the properties and oil companies, while the financials came in mixed.
For the day, the index shed 14.86 points or 0.50 percent to finish at 2,939.32 after trading between 2,934.83 and 2,953.30. The Shenzhen Composite Index sank 14.06 points or 0.86 percent to end at 1,628.62.
Among the actives, Industrial and Commercial Bank of China collected 0.68 percent, while China Construction Bank added 0.27 percent, China Merchants Bank tumbled 2.05 percent, China Life Insurance soared 4.27 percent, Ping An Insurance shed 0.28 percent, PetroChina lost 0.83 percent, China Petroleum and Chemical (Sinopec) sank 0.60 percent, China Shenhua Energy rose 0.11 percent, Gemdale plunged 4.96 percent, Poly Developments fell 0.68 percent, China Vanke eased 0.07 percent and Bank of China, China Minsheng Bank and CITIC Securities were unchanged.
The lead from Wall Street is positive as the major averages shook off a soft start on Wednesday and finished in the green.
The Dow added 115.27 points or 0.43 percent to 27,186.69, while the NADAQ gained 27.12 points or 0.33 percent to 8,303.98 and the S&P 500 rose 9.88 points or 0.33 percent to 3,046.77.
Stocks showed a lack of direction until the Fed announced its decision to lower interest rates for the third straight meeting, from 1.75 percent to 1.50 percent. Traders were unfazed by a change to the accompanying statement suggesting the Fed may put further monetary policy easing on hold.
In economic news, the Commerce Department said U.S. economic growth slowed less than expected in the third quarter, while payroll processor ADP said private sector employment increased more than anticipated in October.
Crude oil prices drifted lower and closed at their lowest levels in about a week on Wednesday after data showed a jump in U.S. crude inventories. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for December ended down $0.48 or 0.9 percent at 55.06 a barrel.
Closer to home, China will see October results for its manufacturing, non-manufacturing and composite PMIs later this morning. In September, the manufacturing PMI had a score of 49.8, the non-manufacturing PMI was at 53.7 and the composite came in at 53.1.
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