BEIJING (dpa-AFX) - The China stock market has tracked higher in back-to-back sessions, gathering more than 45 points or 1.3 percent along the way. The Shanghai Composite Index now rests just beneath the 3,540-point plateau and it's looking at another green light for Monday's trade.
The global forecast for the Asian markets is cautiously optimistic, with support from technology shares tempered by weakness from oil stocks. The European markets were mixed and the U.S. bourses were up and the Asian markets figure to split the difference.
The SCI finished slightly higher on Friday as gains from the broader market were limited by weakness from the financial shares and property stocks.
For the day, the index rose 6.31 points or 0.18 percent to finish at 3,539.10 after trading between 3,527.39 and 3,543.65. The Shenzhen Composite Index added 9.38 points or 0.38 percent to end at 2,467.16.
Among the actives, Industrial and Commercial Bank of China dipped 0.21 percent, while Bank of China shed 0.33 percent, China Construction Bank lost 0.34 percent, China Merchants Bank dropped 0.80 percent, Bank of Communications sank 0.64 percent, China Life Insurance fell 0.44 percent, Jiangxi Copper eased 0.13 percent, Aluminum Corp of China (Chalco) tanked 2.74 percent, Yanzhou Coal retreated 1.03 percent, PetroChina slid 0.21 percent, China Petroleum and Chemical (Sinopec) rose 0.24 percent, Huaneng Power declined 1.48 percent, China Shenhua Energy was down 0.57 percent, Gemdale declined 1.40 percent, Poly Developments added 0.13 percent, China Vanke plummeted 4.95 percent and China Fortune Land tumbled 3.00 percent.
The lead from Wall Street is firm as the major averages open modestly higher on Friday but accelerated as the day progressed, finishing at or near session highs.
The Dow jumped 179.11 points or 0.50 percent to finish at 36,100.31, while the NASDAQ spiked 156.66 points or 1.00 percent to close at 15,860.96 and the S&P 500 gained 33.58 points or 0.72 percent to end at 4,682.85. For the week, the Dow dipped 0.6 percent, the NASDAQ lost 0.7 percent and the S&P eased 0.3 percent.
The strength on Wall Street came as the concerns about inflation raised by the Labor Department's consumer price report seem to have been short-lived.
Federal Reserve officials have also repeatedly described the factors driving inflation as transitory, indicating the central bank is not currently considering accelerating monetary policy tightening.
In economic news, the University of Michigan noted an unexpected deterioration in U.S. consumer sentiment in November.
Crude oil futures tumbled sharply lower on Friday, weighed down by a firm dollar and a downward revision in global oil demand forecast by OPEC. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for December ended down by $0.80 or 1 percent at $80.79 a barrel.
Closer to home, China will see October data for house prices, fixed asset investment, industrial production, retail sales and unemployment later this morning.
Industrial production is expected to climbed 3.0 percent on year, easing from 3.1 percent in September. Retail sales are tipped to gain an annual 3.5 percent, down from 4.4 percent in the previous month. FAI is pegged at 6.2 percent, down from 7.3 percent a month earlier. House prices were up 3.8 percent on year in September, while the jobless rate was 4.9 percent.
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