Lower Open Anticipated For China Stock Market

(RTTNews) - The China stock market has finished lower in two straight sessions, shedding more than 30 points or 1 percent in that span. The Shanghai Composite Index now rests just beneath the 3,050-point plateau and it may extend its losses on Monday.

The global forecast for the Asian markets is mixed, with strength from technology stocks offset by weakness from oil companies. The European and U.S. markets were mixed and the Asian bourses are likely on the same path.

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

For the day, the index sank 29.08 points or 0.94 percent to finish at 3,048.03 after trading between 3,027.76 and 3,073.21. The Shenzhen Composite Index slumped 22.01 points or 1.22 percent to end at 1,782.30.

Among the actives, Industrial and Commercial Bank of China collected 0.57 percent, while Bank of China added 0.46 percent, China Construction Bank rallied 1.48 percent, China Merchants Bank slumped 1.11 percent, Bank of Communications rose 0.32 percent, China Life Insurance tumbled 1.87 percent, Jiangxi Copper tanked 2.89 percent, Aluminum Corp of China (Chalco) dipped 0.14 percent, Yankuang Energy improved 0.71 percent, PetroChina dropped 0.98 percent, China Petroleum and Chemical (Sinopec) sank 0.80 percent, Huaneng Power perked 0.11 percent, China Shenhua Energy gained 0.72 percent, Gemdale plunged 2.95 percent, Poly Developments declined 1,16 percent and China Vanke retreated 1.49 percent.

The lead from Wall Street offers little clarity as the major averages opened flat on Friday but quickly diverged, with the Dow and S&P 500 ending under water and the NASDAQ closing slightly in the green.

The Dow tumbled 305.50 points or 0.77 percent to finish at 39,475.90, while the NASDAQ added 27.02 points or 0.16 percent to close at 16,428.82 and the S&P 500 fell 7.35 points or 0.14 percent to end at 5,234.18. For the week, the NASDAQ spiked 2.9 percent, the S&P 500 surged 2.3 percent and the Dow jumped 2.0 percent.

Profit taking contributed to modest weakness in early trading, with some traders looking to cash in on the recent strength in the markets. Selling pressure was relatively subdued, however, as traders remained optimistic about the outlook for interest rates following the Federal Reserve's monetary policy announcement last week.

While the timing of the first rate remains somewhat uncertain the chances of a quarter point rate cut in June have rebounded to 66.5 percent, according to CME Group's FedWatch Tool.

Nvidia (NVDA) paced the tech-heavy NASDAQ, with the chipmaker surging by 3.1 percent. The AI darling, which has recently been a key driver of trading on Wall Street, ended the day at a record closing high.

Oil prices fell on Friday, as the dollar rose sharply with the Federal Reserve set to hold interest rates higher for now. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for May ended lower by $0.44 at $80.63 a barrel.