China Shares Likely To Open Under Water On Friday

(RTTNews) - The China stock market on Thursday wrote a finish to the two-day winning streak in which it had advanced almost 120 points or 3 percent. The Shanghai Composite Index now sits just beneath the 3,890-point plateau and it may extend its losses on Friday.

The global forecast for the Asian markets is negative on concerns over the conflict in the Middle East. The European and U.S. markets were sharply lower and the Asian bourses figure to follow that lead.

The SCI finished sharply lower on Thursday following losses from the property, resource and insurance sectors, while the energy companies were mixed and the financials were up.

For the day, the index slumped 42.75 points or 1.09 percent to finish at 3,889.08 after trading between 3,880.57 and 3,937.10. The Shenzhen Composite Index stumbled 37.67 points or 1.46 percent to end at 2,546.59.

Among the actives, Industrial and Commercial Bank of China climbed 1.09 percent, while Bank of China gained 0.54 percent, Agricultural Bank of China lost 0.61 percent, China Merchants Bank added 0.76 percent, Bank of Communications collected 0.44 percent, China Life Insurance plunged 4.43 percent, Jiangxi Copper skidded 1.18 percent, Aluminum Corp of China (Chalco) retreated 1.74 percent, Yankuang Energy soared 4.22 percent, PetroChina rallied 2.05 percent, China Petroleum and Chemical (Sinopec) shed 0.68 percent, Huaneng Power stumbled 1.95 percent, China Shenhua Energy advanced 0.93 percent, Gemdale tanked 2.13 percent, Poly Developments surrendered 2.16 percent and China Vanke tumbled 1.94 percent.

The lead from Wall Street is bleak as the major averages opened lower on Thursday and continued to trend sharply lower as the day progressed, ending at session lows.

The Dow tumbled 469.38 points or 1.01 percent to finish at 45,960.11, while the NASDAQ plummeted 521.75 points or 2.38 percent to close at 21,408.08 and the S&P 500 slumped 114.74 points or 1.74 percent to end at 6,477.16.

The sell-off on Wall Street extended the see-saw trend seen over the past few sessions, as traders reacted to continued volatility by the price of crude oil.

Crude prices skyrocketed Thursday as the U.S.-Iran standoff over the 15-point peace proposal deepens the Middle East conflict. West Texas Intermediate crude for May delivery was up $4.51 or 4.99 percent at $94.83 per barrel.

Concerns about further widening of the conflict also weighed on the markets after several Gulf countries issued a joint statement condemning Iran's "criminal" attacks on their energy infrastructure.