(RTTNews) - The China stock market headed south again on Wednesday, one day after ending the four-day slide in which it had stumbled more than 75 points or 2.5 percent. The Shanghai Composite Index now sits just shy of the 2,940-point plateau although it figures to bounce higher again on Thursday.
The global forecast for the Asian markets is upbeat, fueled by technology shares ahead of key inflation data. The European and U.S. markets were up and the Asian bourses are tipped to open in similar fashion.
The SCI finished modestly lower on Wednesday as losses from the resource and property stocks were mitigated by support from the financial sector.
For the day, the index lost 20.01 points or 0.58 percent to finish at 2,939.36 after trading between 2,935.33 and 2,958.86. The Shenzhen Composite Index sank 5.49 points or 0.35 percent to end at 1,582.58.
Among the actives, Industrial and Commercial Bank of China climbed 1.01 percent, while Bank of China rose 0.21 percent, China Construction Bank advanced 0.91 percent, China Merchants Bank collected 0.61 percent, Bank of Communications perked 0.14 percent, China Life Insurance rallied 2.29 percent, Jiangxi Copper surrendered 3.42 percent, Aluminum Corp of China (Chalco) plunged 6.20 percent, Yankuang Energy plummeted 6.84 percent, PetroChina tumbled 2.91 percent, China Petroleum and Chemical (Sinopec) retreated 1.83 percent, Huaneng Power tanked 4.10 percent, China Shenhua Energy stumbled 3.89 percent, Gemdale dropped 3.65 percent, Poly Developments lost 0.47 percent and China Vanke sank 0.89 percent.
The lead from Wall Street is broadly positive as the major averages opened flat on Wednesday but climbed steadily throughout the day, ending with strong gains near session highs.
The Dow surged 429.39 points or 1.09 percent to finish at 39,721.36, while the NASDAQ rallied 218.16 points or 1.18 percent to end at a record 18,647.45 and the S&P 500 jumped 56.93 points or 1.02 percent to close at 5,633.91 - also a record.
The rally on Wall Street was due to strength among technology stocks, as reflected by the notable advance by the tech-heavy NASDAQ.
Stocks may also have benefitted from optimism about the outlook for interest rates ahead of the release of closely watched consumer price inflation data later today.
During congressional testimony, Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell said more good data would strengthen the central bank's confidence inflation is moving sustainably toward its 2 percent target and lead to a potential interest rate cut.
Oil futures settled higher Wednesday after data showed a bigger than expected drop in U.S. crude inventories last week. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for August ended higher by $0.69 at $82.10 a barrel.
