BEIJING (dpa-AFX) - The China stock market ticked higher again on Wednesday, one day after ending the two-day winning streak in which it had jumped more than 60 points or 1.6 percent. The Shanghai Composite Index now sits just above the 3,810-point plateau although it may hand back those gains on Thursday.
The global forecast for the Asian markets offers little guidance ahead of key U.S. inflation data later today. The European and U.S. markets were mixed to lower and the Asian bourses re likely to follow that lead.
The SCI finished slightly higher on Wednesday following gains from the financials, weakness from the properties and a mixed picture from the energy companies.
For the day, the index perked 4.93 points or 0.13 percent to finish at 3,812.22 after trading between 3,794.06 and 3,827.00. The Shenzhen Composite Index rose 6.98 points or 0.29 percent to end at 2,407.52.
Among the actives, Industrial and Commercial Bank of China collected 0.54 percent, while Bank of China perked 0.18 percent, Agricultural Bank of China fell 0.27 percent, China Merchants Bank added 0.40 percent, Bank of Communications rose 0.28 percent, China Life Insurance shed 0.63 percent, Jiangxi Copper dipped 0.21 percent, Aluminum Corp of China (Chalco) sank 0.78 percent, Yankuang Energy dropped 0.99 percent, PetroChina lost 0.34 percent, China Petroleum and Chemical (Sinopec) slumped 0.88 percent, Huaneng Power slid 0.39 percent, China Shenhua Energy was up 0.8 percent, Gemdale declined 0.72 percent, Poly Developments retreated 0.63 percent and China Vanke was unchanged.
The lead from Wall Street is murky as the major averages opened mixed on Wednesday and trended generally downward before finishing on opposite sides of the line.
The Dow stumbled 220.42 points or 0.48 percent to finish at 45,490.92, while the NASDAQ rose 6.57 points or 0.03 percent to close at 21,886.06 and the S&P 500 added 19.43 points or 0.30 percent to end at 6,532.04.
The early strength on Wall Street followed the release of a Labor Department report showing a modest decrease in U.S. producer prices in August. The data added to recent optimism about the Federal Reserve lowering interest rates by at next week's monetary policy meeting.
Buying waned over the course of the session, however, as traders looked ahead to the release of the Labor Department's report on consumer price inflation later today - which may also have a significant effect on the outlook for interest rates.
Crude oil surged on Wednesday on geopolitical tensions in the Middle East and Europe, along with inflation data from the U.S. that has reinforced interest rate cut expectations. West Texas Intermediate crude for October delivery was up $1.07 or 1.71 percent at $63.70 per barrel.
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