BEIJING (dpa-AFX) - The China stock market has moved lower in consecutive trading days, shedding almost 60 points or 1.3 percent in that span. The Shanghai Composite Index now sit just above the 4,090-point plateau and it's likely to find traction on Thursday.
The global forecast for the Asian markets is cautiously optimistic, thanks mostly to easing oil prices. The European markets were mixed and little changed and the U.S. bourses were slightly higher and the Asian markets figure to split the difference.
The SCI finished sharply lower on Wednesday following losses from the financial, resource and property sectors.
For the day, the index sank 51.65 points or 1.25 percent to finish at 4,093.73 after trading between 4,077.62 and 4,153.56. The Shenzhen Composite Index dropped 37.47 points or 1.30 percent to end at 2,834.85.
Among the actives, Industrial and Commercial Bank of China dropped 0.84 percent, while Bank of China slumped 1.02 percent, Agricultural Bank of China contracted 1.71 percent, Bank of Communications eased 0.15 percent, China Life Insurance skidded 1.01 percent, Jiangxi Copper plunged 5.20 percent, Aluminum Corp of China (Chalco) stumbled 2.07 percent, Yankuang Energy vaulted 2.42 percent, PetroChina retreated 1.46 percent, China Petroleum and Chemical (Sinopec) sank 0.82 percent, Huaneng Power rallied 2.66 percent, China Shenhua Energy spiked 2.90 percent, Gemdale surrendered 2.59 percent, Poly Developments tanked 3.08 percent, China Vanke tumbled 1.77 percent and China Merchants Bank was unchanged.
The lead from Wall Street is mildly positive as the major averages spent much of the day bouncing back and forth across the line before ending little changed with a slight upside bias - but enough for all three to hit record closing highs..
The Dow climbed 182.60 points or 0.36 percent to finish at 50,644.28, while the NASDAQ added 18.55 points or 0.07 percent to close at 26,674.73 and the S&P 500 perked 1.24 points or 0.02 percent to end at 7,520.36.
The choppy trading on Wall Street came as traders expressed some uncertainty about the near-term outlook for the markets following recent strength, while optimism about an eventual end to the conflict between the U.S. and Iran continues weigh on oil prices.
Crude oil prices plummeted on Wednesday as investors continue to anticipate a potential U.S.-Iran agreement, despite the hard line from the U.S. West Texas Intermediate crude for July delivery was down $5.05 or 5.38 percent at $88.84 per barrel.
Traders may also have been somewhat reluctant to make significant moves ahead of the release of key U.S. economic data later today, including the Federal Reserve's preferred readings on consumer price inflation.
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