BEIJING (dpa-AFX) - The China stock market bounced higher again on Friday, one day after ending the two-day winning streak in which it had advanced almost 120 points or 3 percent. The Shanghai Composite Index now sits just above the 3,910-point plateau although it may head south again on Monday.
The global forecast for the Asian markets continues to be negative thanks to the conflict 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 open in similar fashion.
The SCI finished modestly higher on Friday as gains from the properties and oil companies were capped by weakness from the financial sector.
For the day, the index gained 24.64 points or 0.63 percent to finish at 3,913.72 after trading between 3,852.09 and 3,924.11. The Shenzhen Composite Index rallied 32.95 points or 1.29 percent to end at 2,579.55.
Among the actives, Industrial and Commercial Bank of China fell 0.27 percent, while Bank of China dipped 0.18 percent, Agricultural Bank of China shed 0.46 percent, China Merchants Bank slipped 0.30 percent, Bank of Communications collected 0.29 percent, China Life Insurance skidded 1.11 percent, Jiangxi Copper sank 0.72 percent, Aluminum Corp of China (Chalco) climbed 1.15 percent, Yankuang Energy lost 0.63 percent, PetroChina rallied 1.09 percent, China Petroleum and Chemical (Sinopec) gained 0.34 percent, Huaneng Power slumped 0.53 percent, China Shenhua Energy was down 0.40 percent, Gemdale rose 0.36 percent, Poly Developments perked 0.17 percent and China Vanke added 0.50 percent.
The lead from Wall Street remains grim as the major averages opened lower on Friday and got worse as the day progressed, ending at session lows.
The Dow plunged 793.46 points or 1.73 percent to finish at 45,166.64, while the NASDAQ tumbled 459.74 points or 2.15 percent to close at 20,948.36 and the S&P 500 dropped 108.31 points or 1.67 percent to end at 6,368.85.
For the week, the NASDAQ plummeted 3.2 percent, the S&P 500 dove 2.1 percent and the Dow slid 0.9 percent. The steep losses dragged the major averages down to their lowest closing levels in over eight months.
A continued surge by the price of crude oil weighed on Wall Street, with international benchmark Brent crude futures jumping back above $110 a barrel after soaring by more than 5 percent.
Crude oil prices skyrocketed on Friday after Iran shut down reports of peace talks for the ongoing conflict. West Texas Intermediate crude for May delivery was up $5.32 or 5.63 percent at $99.80 per barrel.
Analysts suggest that the longer crude oil prices remain at elevated levels, the greater the fear of inflationary pressures continuing to climb.
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