(RTTNews) - The China stock market has finished lower in three straight sessions, sinking more than 40 points or 1.2 percent in that span. The Shanghai Composite Index now rests just beneath the 3,450-point plateau and the losing streak figures to continue on Monday.
The global forecast for the Asian markets is continued volatility with a downward bias thanks to the ongoing Russian invasion of Ukraine. The European and U.S. markets were down and the Asian markets are expected to open in similar fashion.
The SCI finished modestly lower on Friday as losses from the financials, properties and resource stocks were mitigated by support from the energy companies.
For the day, the index declined 33.46 points or 0.96 percent to finish at 3,447.65 after trading between 3,437.70 and 3,474.88. The Shenzhen Composite Index surrendered 29.44 points or 1.28 percent to end at 2,264.64.
Among the actives, Industrial and Commercial Bank of China shed 0.42 percent, while China Construction Bank and China Life Insurance both lost 0.49 percent, China Merchants Bank tanked 2.07 percent, Bank of Communications dipped 0.20 percent, Jiangxi Copper retreated 1.51 percent, Aluminum Corp of China (Chalco) sank 0.56 percent, Yankuang Energy climbed 1.17 percent, PetroChina tumbled 2.02 percent, China Petroleum and Chemical (Sinopec) declined 1.35 percent, Huaneng Power spiked 2.68 percent, China Shenhua Energy advanced 0.93 percent, Gemdale added 0.65 percent, Poly Developments slumped 0.53 percent, China Vanke plunged 4.00 percent, China Fortune Land dropped 0.95 percent, Beijing Capital Development rallied 2.12 percent and Bank of China was unchanged.
The lead from Wall Street is soft as the major averages opened lower on Friday and remained solidly in the red throughout the session.
The Dow dropped 179.90 points or 0.53 percent to finish at 33,614.80, while the NASDAQ tumbled 224.46 points or 1.66 percent to close at 13,313.44 and the S&P sank 34.62 points or 0.79 percent to end at 4,328.87. For the week, the NASDAQ plunged 2.8 percent and the Dow and S&P both fell 1.3 percent.
The weakness on Wall Street came as concerns about the impact of the Russian invasion of Ukraine continued to weigh on the markets, with Russia ratcheting up its attacks and taking control of Ukraine's Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant, the largest nuclear power plant in Europe.
Worries about Ukraine overshadowed the Labor Department report that showed U.S. employment once again jumped by much more than expected in February.
Crude oil prices moved up sharply on Friday as worries about supply disruptions grew amid an escalation in the Russia-Ukraine conflict. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for April ended up by $8.01 or about 7.4 percent at $115.68 a barrel, the highest settlement since September 2008. WTI crude futures skyrocketed 26.3 percent for the week, the steepest climb in percentage terms since the week ending April 3, 2020.
Closer to home, China will release February figures for imports, exports and trade balance later this morning. Imports are expected to rise 16.5 percent on year, slowing from 19.5 percent in January. Exports are called higher by an annual 15.0 percent, down from 20.9 percent in the previous month. The trade surplus is pegged at $99.5 billion, up from $94.46 billion a month earlier.
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