(RTTNews) - The China stock market has tracked higher in two straight sessions, gathering almost 90 points or 3 percent along the way. The Shanghai Composite Index now rests just above the 2,975-point plateau and it may add to its winnings on Friday.
The global forecast for the Asian markets is upbeat, with support expected especially from oil and technology stocks. The European and U.S. markets were up and the Asian markets are expected to open in similar fashion.
The SCI finished modestly higher on Thursday following gains from the financial shares, resource stocks and properties.
For the day, the index climbed 17.20 points or 0.58 percent to finish at 2,975.48 after trading between 2,936.79 and 2,991.51. The Shenzhen Composite Index shed 12.92 points or 0.71 percent to end at 1,808.47.
Among the actives, Industrial and Commercial Bank of China climbed 1.27 percent, while Bank of China advanced 0.93 percent, China Construction Bank collected 0.83 percent, China Merchants Bank soared 4.15 percent, Bank of Communications added 0.59 percent, China Life Insurance tanked 2.08 percent, Jiangxi Copper improved 1.25 percent, Aluminum Corp of China (Chalco) shed 0.43 percent, Yankuang Energy surged 6.96 percent, PetroChina jumped 1.97 percent, China Petroleum and Chemical (Sinopec) spiked 2.37 percent, Huaneng Power strengthened 1.39 percent, China Shenhua Energy skyrocketed 7.73 percent, Gemdale accelerated 4.78 percent, Poly Developments rallied 6.08 percent, China Vanke gained 2.58 percent, China Fortune Land gathered 2.08 percent and China Minsheng Bank was unchanged.
The lead from Wall Street is broadly positive as the major averages opened modestly higher on Thursday but accelerated throughout the day, finishing near session highs.
The Dow surged 614.46 points or 1.85 percent to finish at 33,916.39, while the NASDAQ soared 382.59 points or 3.06 percent to close at 12,871.53 and the S&P 500 spiked 103.54 points or 2.47 percent to end at 4,287.50.
The rally on Wall Street came as upbeat earnings news overshadowed a disappointing report on the U.S. economy; results from companies like Meta (FB), Qualcomm (QCOM), McDonald's (MCD), Merck (MRK), and Eli Lilly (LLY) led the way.
Meanwhile, traders seemed to shrug off a report from the Commerce Department showing U.S. economic activity unexpectedly contracted in the first quarter of 2022.
Some traders may have interpreted the data as a sign the Federal Reserve will not raise interest rates as aggressively as currently expected.
Crude oil prices climbed higher Thursday amid concerns over supply due to the possible impact of sanctions on Russia's crude oil production. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for June ended higher by $3.34 or 3.3 percent at $105.36 a barrel.
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