BEIJING (dpa-AFX) - The China stock market on Friday ended the three-day winning streak in which it had gathered almost 85 points or 2.4 percent. The Shanghai Composite Index now rests just above the 3,665-point plateau although it's expected to open higher again on Monday.
The global forecast for the Asian markets is mixed to higher on easing virus concerns and support from crude oil. The European markets were down and the U.S. bourses were up and the Asian markets are tipped to follow the latter lead.
The SCI finished slightly lower on Friday following weakness from the energy producers and mixed performances form the financials and properties.
For the day, the index dipped 6.69 points or 0.18 percent to finish at 3,666.35 after trading between 3,651.35 and 3,667.85. The Shenzhen Composite Index rose 3.49 points or 0.14 percent to end at 2,546.65.
Among the actives, China Construction Bank shed 0.51 percent, while China Merchants Bank collected 0.68 percent, Bank of Communications fell 0.43 percent, China Minsheng Bank was up 0.25 percent, China Life Insurance dipped 0.23 percent, Jiangxi Copper dropped 0.89 percent, Aluminum Corp of China (Chalco) climbed 1.43 percent, Yanzhou Coal sank 0.87 percent, PetroChina tumbled 2.17 percent, China Petroleum and Chemical (Sinopec) skidded 1.17 percent, Huaneng Power plunged 4.01 percent, China Shenhua Energy lost 0.46 percent, Gemdale tanked 2.18 percent, Poly Developments retreated 1.77 percent, China Vanke declined 1.18 percent, China Fortune Land skyrocketed by the 10 percent daily limit and Industrial and Commercial Bank of China and Bank of China were unchanged.
The lead from Wall Street is positive as the major averages opened higher on Friday, ebbed towards the break but rebounded to finish firmly higher.
The Dow jumped 216.30 points or 0.60 percent to finish at 35.970.99, while the NASDAQ climbed 113.23 points or 0.73 percent to end at 15,630.60 and the S&P 500 gained 44.57 points or 0.95 percent to close at 4,712.02. For the week, the Dow spiked 4 percent, the NASDAQ climbed 3.6 percent and the S&P jumped 3.8 percent.
The strength on Wall Street came even after the Labor Department released a report showing U.S. consumer prices surged at the fastest annual rate of in nearly 40 years in November.
While the elevated rate of inflation may lead the Federal Reserve to accelerate the pace of tapering its asset purchases next week, traders seemed relieved that the price growth was not even faster.
A separate report from the University of Michigan showed consumer sentiment in the U.S. unexpectedly improved in early December.
Crude oil futures settled higher Friday on easing worries about the Omicron coronavirus variant's impact on global economic growth. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for January ended higher by $0.73 or 1 percent at $71.67 a barrel. WTI crude futures gained 8.2 percent in the week, the best weekly returns since end August.
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