BEIJING (dpa-AFX) - The China stock market has alternated between positive and negative finishes through the last four trading days since the end of the three-day slide in which it had retreated nearly 60 points or 2 percent. The Shanghai Composite Index remains just above the 3,005-point plateau although it may rebound again on Monday.
The global forecast for the Asian markets suggests continued if mild upward momentum based more on inertia than anything else until next year. The European markets were slightly higher on Friday and the U.S. bourses were mixed and little changed and the Asian markets figure to split the difference.
The SCI finished barely lower on Friday following mixed performances from the financials, properties and insurance companies.
For the day, the index eased 2.31 points or 0.08 percent to finish at 3,005.04 after trading between 3,003.63 and 3,036.11. The Shenzhen Composite Index shed 11.54 points or 0.68 percent to end at 1,697.91.
Among the actives, Industrial and Commercial Bank of China collected 0.68 percent, while Bank of China added 0.27 percent, China Construction Bank gained 0.28 percent, China Merchants Bank sank 0.63 percent, China Life Insurance dropped 0.97 percent, Ping An Insurance rose 0.34 percent, PetroChina gathered 0.87 percent, China Petroleum and Chemical (Sinopec) increased 0.60 percent, China Shenhua Energy perked 0.73 percent, Gemdale climbed 1.16 percent, Poly Developments fell 0.25 percent and China Vanke lost 0.39 percent.
The lead from Wall Street offers little guidance as stocks showed a lack of direction on Friday, bouncing back and forth across the unchanged line before ending mixed - although the Dow and S&P 500 hit fresh record closing highs.
The Dow added 23.87 points or 0.08 percent to end at 28,645.26, while the NASDAQ fell 15.77 points or 0.17 percent to 9,006.62 and the S&P rose 0.11 points or 0.00 percent to 3,240.02. For the week, the Dow and S&P both gained 0.7 percent and the NASDAQ rose 0.6 percent.
Stocks have moved steadily higher over the past month, rarely showing significant moves to the upside but also refraining from the pullbacks typically seen as traders cash in on recent strength.
The perpetual advance follows news the U.S. and China reached an agreement on a phase one trade deal, which helped lift some of the uncertainty hanging over the markets.
Many traders remained away from their desks following the Christmas holiday last Wednesday and the New Year's Day holiday this Wednesday.
Crude oil prices settled marginally higher on Friday after data showed a larger than expected drop in crude inventories last week. West Texas Intermediate crude oil futures for February ended up $0.04 at $$61.72 a barrel, the highest settlement price in more than three months.
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