BEIJING (dpa-AFX) - The China stock market has climbed higher in five straight sessions, gathering more than 45 points or 1.5 percent along the way. The Shanghai Composite Index now rests just above the 2,920-point plateau and it's expected to maintain its winning streak.
The global forecast for the Asian markets is upbeat after the FOMC's decision to leave interest rates unchanged. The European and U.S. markets were up and the Asian markets figure to follow that lead.
The SCI finished modestly higher on Wednesday following gains from the financial shares, property stocks and insurance companies.
For the day, the index rose 7.10 points or 0.24 percent to finish at 2,924.42 after trading between 2,915.00 and 2,928.26. The Shenzhen Composite Index slid 7.32 points or 0.44 percent to end at 1,639.50.
Among the actives, Industrial and Commercial Bank of China added 0.88 percent, while China Construction Bank collected 0.42 percent, China Merchants Bank gained 0.78 percent, China Life Insurance jumped 1.41 percent, Ping An Insurance rose 0.54 percent, China Petroleum and Chemical (Sinopec) increased 0.40 percent, China Shenhua Energy was up 0.17 percent, Gemdale surged 3.26 percent, Poly Developments perked 0.71 percent, China Vanke gathered 0.36 percent and Bank of China and PetroChina were unchanged.
The lead from Wall Street is positive, mostly in response to the Federal Reserve's latest monetary policy announcement.
The Dow added 29.58 points or 0.11 percent to finish at 27,911.30, while the NASDAQ gained 37.87 points or 0.44 percent to 8,654.05 and the S&P rose 9.11 points or 0.29 percent to 3,141.63.
The higher close on Wall Street came after the Fed decided to leave interest rates unchanged following three straight rate cuts. The decision was widely expected, although the Fed's projections showed a majority of meeting participants now expect interest rates to remain on hold throughout 2020.
In its accompanying statement, the Fed said the current stance of monetary policy is appropriate to support a sustained economic expansion, strong labor market conditions, and inflation near its symmetric 2 percent objective.
Crude oil prices eased on Wednesday after data showed a surprise increase in crude inventories in the U.S. last week. West Texas Intermediate Crude Oil futures for January ended down $0.48 or 0.8 percent at $58.76 a barrel.
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