(RTTNews) – The China stock market has finished higher in four straight sessions, advancing more than 35 points or 1.1 percent along the way. The Shanghai Composite Index now sits just above the 3,385-point plateau and it may add to its winnings again on Monday.
The global forecast for the Asian markets is positive, thanks to upbeat employment data out of the United States. The European markets were mixed and the U.S. bourses were sharply higher and the Asian bourses figure to follow the latter lead.
The SCI finished barely higher on Friday as gains from the oil companies and financials were dented by weakness from the property sector.
For the day, the index perked 1.26 points or 0.04 percent to finish at 3,385.36 after trading between 3,379.76 and 3,391.45. The Shenzhen Composite Index dipped 2.44 points or 0.12 percent to end at 2,007.69.
Among the actives, Industrial and Commercial Bank of China perked 0.14 percent, while Bank of China and Poly Developments both fell 0.37 percent, Agricultural Bank of China improved 0.72 percent, China Merchants Bank rose 0.23 percent, Bank of Communications was up 0.13 percent, China Life Insurance collected 0.68 percent, Jiangxi Copper jumped 1.88 percent, Aluminum Corp of China (Chalco) increased 0.75 percent, Yankuang Energy sank 0.71 percent, PetroChina strengthened 1.43 percent, China Petroleum and Chemical (Sinopec) added 0.52 percent, Huaneng Power climbed 1.11 percent, China Shenhua Energy gained 0.61 percent, Gemdale slumped 1.33 percent and China Vanke lost 0.60 percent.
The lead from Wall Street is firm as the major averages opened higher on Friday and remained in the green throughout the trading day, ending near session highs.
The Dow surged 443.13 points or 1.05 percent to finish at 42,762.87, while the NASDAQ rallied 231.50 points or 1.20 percent to close at 19,529.95 and the S&P 500 gained 61.06 points or 1.03 percent to end at 6,000.36.
The rally on Wall Street followed the release of the closely watched Labor Department report showing slightly stronger than expected U.S. job growth in May.
The Labor Department said non-farm payroll employment shot up by 139,000 jobs in May after jumping by a downwardly revised 147,000 jobs in April. Economists had expected employment to increase by about 130,000 jobs.
The modestly bigger than expected increase in employment helped offset concerns about the strength of the economy following some recent downbeat data.
Crude oil prices move higher on Friday in response to the better-than-expected jobs data. West Texas Intermediate crude for July delivery was up $1.21 to $64.58 per barrel; it was up 6 percent for the week.
Closer to home, China will release May figures for consumer prices, imports, exports and trade balance later this morning. In April, overall inflation was up 0.1 percent on month and down 0.1 percent on year, while producer prices sank an annual 2.7 percent.
Imports are expected to slip 0.9 percent on year after easing 0.2 percent in April. Exports are called higher by an annual 5.0 percent, moderating from 8.1 percent in the previous month. The trade surplus is pegged at $101.30 billion, up from $96.18 billion a month earlier.
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