China Shares May End Losing Streak

(RTTNews) - The China stock market has moved lower in three straight sessions, slipping more than 50 points or 1.3 percent along the way. The Shanghai Composite Index now sits just above the 3,870-point plateau although it may halt its slide on Friday.

The global forecast for the Asian markets suggests mild upside on optimism over earnings news, although weakness from the technology and oil companies may limit the upside. The European markets were up and the U.S. bourses were mostly in the green and the Asian markets figure to follow that lead.

The SCI finished modestly lower again on Thursday as losses from the property and resource stocks were mitigated by support from the financial sector.

For the day, the index sank 27.18 points or 0.70 percent to finish at 3,873.32 after trading between 3,862.82 and 3,904.96. The Shenzhen Composite Index stumbled 35.22 points or 1.41 percent to end at 2,457.15.

Among the actives, Industrial and Commercial Bank of China improved 0.76 percent, while Bank of China climbed 1.24 percent, Agricultural Bank of China rallied 1.41 percent, China Merchants Bank eased 0.05 percent, Bank of Communications gained 0.68 percent, China Life Insurance collected 0.65 percent, Jiangxi Copper surrendered 2.85 percent, Aluminum Corp of China (Chalco) tumbled 2.33 percent, Yankuang Energy dipped 0.22 percent, PetroChina added 0.62 percent, China Petroleum and Chemical (Sinopec) shed 0.68 percent, China Shenhua Energy rose 0.32 percent, Gemdale plunged 4.52 percent, Poly Developments tanked 3.89 percent, China Vanke stumbled 3.43 percent and Huaneng Power was unchanged.

The lead from Wall Street is cautiously optimistic as the major averages opened mixed but trended steadily higher as the day progressed.

The Dow jumped 646.26 points or 1.34 percent to finish at a record 48,704.01, while the NASDAQ dipped 60.30 points or 0.25 percent to close at 23,593.86 and the &P 500 rose 14.32 points or 0.21 percent to end at 6,901.00.

The surge by the Dow reflected a spike by shares of Visa (V) after Bank of American upgraded its rating on the stock to Buy from Neutral. Strong gains by Nike (NKE), UnitedHealth (UNH) and American Express (AXP) also contributed to the jump by the blue chip index.

On the other hand shares of Oracle (ORCL) weighed on the NASDAQ after the company reported fiscal Q2 earnings that beat estimates but on weaker than expected revenues - reflecting renewed valuation concerns.

On the U.S. economic front, the Labor Department said first-time claims for U.S. unemployment benefits rebounded more than expected last week.

Crude oil prices dropped on Thursday on oversupply concerns even as OPEC prepares to pause output hikes in early 2026. West Texas Intermediate crude for January delivery was down $0.88 or 1.51 percent at $57.58 per barrel.