BEIJING (dpa-AFX) - The China stock market has moved lower in back-to-back sessions, slipping almost 40 points or 1 percent in that span. The Shanghai Composite Index now sits just beneath the 4,100-point plateau and it may extend its losses on Monday.
The global forecast for the Asian markets is soft on continuing concerns over the war in the Middle East and the resulting surge in oil prices. The European and U.S. markets were down and the Asian bourses are expected to follow to the downside.
The SCI finished modestly lower on Friday following losses from the energy and resource stocks, while the financials were mixed and the properties were up.
For the day, the index shed 33.65 points or 0.82 percent to finish at 4,095.45 after trading between 4,086.85 and 4,134.08. The Shenzhen Composite Index sank 23.94 points or 0.88 percent to end at 2,701.41.
Among the actives, Industrial and Commercial Bank of China collected 0.56 percent, while Bank of China rose 0.37 percent, Agricultural Bank of China fell 0.30 percent, China Merchants Bank added 0.66 percent, Bank of Communications improved 0.74 percent, China Life Insurance shed 0.59 percent, Jiangxi Copper retreated 1.57 percent, Aluminum Corp of China (Chalco) plunged 4.61 percent, Yankuang Energy tumbled 1.80 percent, PetroChina declined 1.47 percent, China Petroleum and Chemical (Sinopec) tanked 2.01 percent, Huaneng Power was down 0.38 percent, China Shenhua Energy sank 0.69 percent, Gemdale gathered 0.32 percent, Poly Developments climbed 1.10 percent and China Vanke perked 0.22 percent.
The lead from Wall Street is weak as the major averages opened higher on Friday but turned lower as the day progressed, slipping into the red and finishing at session lows.
The Dow dropped 119.43 points or 0.26 percent to finish at 46,558.47, while the NASDAQ tumbled 206.64 points or 0.93 percent to close at 22,105.36 and the S&P 500 sank 40.43 points or 0.61 percent to end at 6,632.19. For the week, the Dow plunged 2.0 percent, the S&P dropped 1.6 percent and the NASDAQ slumped 1.3 percent.
The pullback seen over the course of the session came as trading continued to be largely driven by reaction to crude oil prices.
Stocks initially benefited from a pullback by the price of crude oil, with crude for April delivery plunging by as much as 3.9 percent after skyrocketing over the course of the two previous sessions.
Crude oil prices again showed a substantial move to the upside on Friday as uncertainty prevails about the timeline for ending the war. West Texas Intermediate crude for April delivery was up $3.35 or 3.50 percent at $98.08 per barrel.
In economic news, the Commerce Department said the annual rate of consumer price growth unexpectedly slowed in January. A separate report from the Commerce Department showed U.S. economic growth slowed much more than estimated in the fourth quarter of 2025.
Closer to home, China will release a batch of data later this morning, including February figures for house prices, fixed asset investment, industrial production, retail sales and unemployment.
In January, house prices were down 3.1 percent on year, while investment fell 3.8 percent on year and production rose 5.2 percent on year. Sales were up an annual 0.9 percent, while the jobless rate was 5.1 percent.
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