BEIJING (dpa-AFX) - The China stock market had climbed higher in three straight sessions, collecting almost 70 points or 2.5 percent in that span. The Shanghai Composite Index now rests just beneath the 2,880-point plateau although investors may cash in on Thursday.
The global forecast for the Asian markets is mixed to lower, with support from technology stocks offset by weakness from energy stocks and poor economic data. The European and U.S. markets were mostly lower and the Asian bourses figure to follow that lead.
The SCI finished modestly higher on Wednesday as gains from the resource stocks were capped by weakness from the financial shares and properties.
For the day, the index gained 18.06 points or 0.63 percent to finish at 2,878.14 after trading between 2,830.65 and 2,879.26. The Shenzhen Composite Index jumped 26.92 points or 1.53 percent to end at 1,790.28.
Among the actives, Industrial and Commercial Bank of China skidded 1.16 percent, while Bank of China dropped 0.86 percent, China Construction Bank retreated 1.40 percent, China Merchants Bank sank 1.31 percent, China Life Insurance tumbled 2.24 percent, Ping An Insurance shed 0.87 percent, PetroChina added 0.68 percent, China Petroleum and Chemical (Sinopec) lost 0.67 percent, China Shenhua Energy slid 1.00 percent, Jiangxi Copper advanced 0.86 percent, Aluminum Corporation of China (Chalco) gained 0.35 percent, Yanzhou Coal increased 0.48 percent, Gemdale plunged 2.42 percent, Poly Developments tanked 2.28 percent and China Vanke declined 2.01 percent.
The lead from Wall Street offers little clarity as stocks showed a lack of direction on Wednesday before eventually ending the day mixed.
The Dow dropped 218.45 points or 0.91 percent to finish at 23,664.64, while the NASDAQ gained 45.27 points or 0.51 percent to 8,854.39 and the S&P 500 sank 20.02 points or 0.70 percent to end at 2,848.42.
The choppy trading on Wall Street came as traders weighed optimism about some states reopening against some dismal employment data.
Private sector employment nosedived in April, according to payroll processor ADP - which said private sector employment plunged by 20.236 million jobs last month after slumping by a revised 149,000 jobs in March.
Energy stocks showed a significant move to the downside on the day, moving lower along with the price of crude oil.
After five straight days of gains, crude oil futures fell on Wednesday amid renewed concerns about excess supply in the market and worries about the outlook for near term energy demand. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for June ended down $0.57 or 2.3 percent at $23.99 a barrel.
Closer to home, China will release April numbers for imports, exports and trade balance later today. Imports are expected to fall 12.4 percent on year after easing 0.1 percent in March, while exports are called lower by an annual 12.1 percent after falling 6.6 percent in the previous month. The trade balance is expected to see a surplus of $9.7 billion, down from $19.9 billion a month earlier.
China also will see April results for the services and composite PMIs from Caixin; in March, their scores were 43.0 and 46.7, respectively.
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