BEIJING (dpa-AFX) - The China stock market on Thursday ended the three-day winning streak in which it had gained almost 50 points or 1.4 percent. The Shanghai Composite Index now sits just beneath the 3,670-point plateau and it may take further damage on Friday.
The global forecast for the Asian markets suggests little movement ahead of the meeting between the U.S. and Russian presidents later today to discuss ways to end the Russia-Ukraine war. The European markets were up and the U.S. bourses were mixed and flat and the Asian markets figure to follow the latter lead.
The SCI finished modestly lower on Thursday following losses from the resource and property stocks, while the financial sector came in mixed.
For the day, the index shed 17.02 points or 0.46 percent to finish at 3,666.44 after trading between 3,662.57 and 3,704.77. The Shenzhen Composite Index sank 27.45 points or 1.20 percent to end at 2,261.66.
Among the actives, Industrial and Commercial Bank of China slipped 0.13 percent, while Agricultural Bank of China jumped 1.76 percent, China Merchants Bank collected 0.55 percent, China Life Insurance climbed 1.04 percent, Jiangxi Copper sank 0.76 percent, Aluminum Corp of China (Chalco) skidded 1.03 percent, Yankuang Energy retreated 1.58 percent, PetroChina shed 0.69 percent, China Petroleum and Chemical (Sinopec) lost 0.52 percent, Huaneng Power slumped 1.23 percent, Gemdale tumbled 1.78 percent, Poly Developments perked 0.13 percent, China Vanke fell 0.46 percent and China Shenhua Energy was unchanged.
The lead from Wall Street offers little guidance as the major averages opened lower on Thursday and spent most of the day in the red before finally ending mixed and little changed.
The Dow shed 11.01 points or 0.02 percent to finish at 44,911.26, while the NASDAQ dipped 2.47 points or 0.01 percent to close at 21,710.67 and the S&P 500 rose 1.96 points or 0.03 percent to end at a record 6,468.54.
The early weakness on Wall Street followed the release of a Labor Department report showing producer prices in the U.S. increased by much more than expected in the month of July.
The hotter-than-expected producer price inflation data partly offset optimism about a September interest rate cut generated by the consumer price inflation data released earlier this week.
However, CME Group's FedWatch Tool is currently still indicating a 92.6 percent chance the Federal Reserve will lower rates by a quarter point next month, which helped keep selling pressure relatively subdued.
Crude oil jumped on Thursday ahead of a crucial meeting between the U.S. and Russian presidents later today in Alaska to discuss ways to end the Russia-Ukraine war. West Texas Intermediate crude for September delivery was up $1.32 or 2.11 percent at $63.97 per barrel.
Closer to home, China will release July numbers for industrial production, retail sales, fixed asset investment and unemployment later this morning. Industrial production is expected to add 6.0 percent on year, down from 6.8 percent in June. Sales are seen higher by an annual 4.6 percent, easing from 4.8 percent in the previous month. FAI is tipped to ease to an annual 2.7 percent from 2.8 percent and the jobless rate is expected to tick up to 5.1 percent from 5.0 percent a month earlier.
Copyright(c) 2025 RTTNews.com. All Rights Reserved
Copyright RTT News/dpa-AFX
© 2025 AFX News
