BEIJING (dpa-AFX) - The China stock market has moved lower in two of three days since the end of the three-day winning streak in which it had climbed more than 40 points or 1.4 percent. The Shanghai Composite Index now rests just beneath the 2,840-point plateau and it's likely to remain rangebound again on Friday.
The global forecast for the Asian markets is unclear, with coronavirus concerns and a surge from crude oil prices warring for attention. The European markets were up and the U.S. bourses were mixed but little changed and the Asian markets figure to split the difference.
The SCI finished slightly lower on Thursday as losses from the financial shares and properties were mitigated by support from the oil and insurance companies.
For the day, the index fell 5.48 points or 0.19 percent to finish at 2,838.50 after trading between 2,835.90 and 2,853.64. The Shenzhen Composite Index shed 8.77 points or 0.50 percent to end at 1,763.03.
Among the actives, Industrial and Commercial Bank of China shed 0.39 percent, while Bank of China tumbled 1.98 percent, China Construction Bank dropped 0.80 percent, China Merchants Bank eased 0.12 percent, China Life Insurance collected 0.57 percent, Ping An Insurance rose 0.12 percent, PetroChina spiked 2.02 percent, China Petroleum and Chemical (Sinopec) advanced 0.89 percent, China Shenhua Energy lost 0.52 percent, Gemdale sank 0.60 percent, Poly Developments fell 0.38 percent and China Vanke was down 0.50 percent.
The lead from Wall Street offers is murky as stocks fluctuated on Thursday before eventually ending the session little changed after failing to sustain an early rally.
The Dow added 39.44 points or 0.17 percent to 23,515.26, while the NASDAQ eased 0.63 points or 0.01 percent to 8,494.75 and the S&P 500 dipped 1.51 points or 0.05 percent to 2,797.80.
The choppy trading on Wall Street came as traders reacted to conflicting reports regarding Gilead Sciences' (GILD) potential coronavirus treatment remdesivir after reports said the drug 'flopped' in its first randomized clinical trial.
In economic news, the Labor Department said more than 4 million people filed first-time claims for U.S. unemployment benefits last week, although that reflects a continued decline from the nearly 7 million people that filed first-time claims in the last week of March.
Crude oil futures settled sharply higher Thursday, extending gains from the previous session on an escalation in tensions in the Middle East and expectations of an output cut. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for June ended up $2.72 or 20 percent at $16.50 a barrel.
Copyright RTT News/dpa-AFX