The Chinese stock market witnessed a continuation of its consolidation phase on Friday, following a day where it had halted a two-day decline that resulted in a drop of over 55 points or 1.7 percent. The Shanghai Composite is currently resting just above the 3,270 mark, poised to open stronger on Monday.
The outlook for Asian markets is optimistic, fueled by robust earnings announcements and renewed confidence regarding interest rate projections. This optimism mirrors the upward trends seen in both European and U.S. markets, which are expected to influence the Asian exchanges positively.
On Friday, the Shanghai Composite Index (SCI) saw a slight decline amidst mixed performances from the property and energy sectors, while financial stocks provided some support. The index dipped 7.81 points, or 0.24 percent, concluding the day at 3,272.01, having fluctuated between 3,258.73 and 3,305.32. In contrast, the Shenzhen Composite Index experienced a steep fall of 45.92 points, or 2.31 percent, ending at 1,945.84.
In terms of individual market performers, Industrial and Commercial Bank of China rose by 1.82 percent, China Construction Bank gained 1.64 percent, and China Merchants Bank increased by 1.74 percent. Meanwhile, Agricultural Bank of China edged up 1.06 percent, China Life Insurance saw an uptick of 1.60 percent, and Jiangxi Copper and Aluminum Corp of China (Chalco) surged by 4.69 percent and 4.06 percent respectively. Yankuang Energy inched up 0.91 percent, PetroChina climbed 2.47 percent, and China Petroleum and Chemical (Sinopec) rose 1.62 percent. Contrastingly, Huaneng Power fell 0.83 percent, China Shenhua Energy advanced 2.57 percent, Gemdale ticked up 0.16 percent, Poly Developments increased 1.30 percent, while China Vanke saw a decline of 1.83 percent.
Wall Street offered an encouraging lead as key indices opened higher on Friday and maintained upward momentum throughout the trading session. The Dow rose by 288.73 points, or 0.69 percent, ending at 42,052.19. The NASDAQ added 144.77 points, or 0.80 percent, closing at 18,239.92, and the S&P 500 improved by 23.35 points, or 0.41 percent, finishing at 5,728.80.
Throughout the week, however, the Dow registered a slight decrease of 0.2 percent, while the S&P dropped 1.4 percent and the NASDAQ fell 1.5 percent.
The buoyancy in Wall Street was primarily driven by favorable reactions to impressive earnings reports from prominent companies such as Intel (INTC) and Amazon (AMZN). Traders were also processing the Labor Department’s employment report, which indicated weaker than anticipated job growth for October. Although the data sparked concerns about the economy's robustness, it simultaneously renewed optimism regarding interest rate forecasts.
Oil futures witnessed a modest increase on Friday amidst concerns about potential Middle Eastern tensions following reports of Iran planning additional assaults on Israel. Specifically, West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for December climbed by $0.23, or 0.33 percent, closing at $69.49 per barrel.
