The China stock market on Thursday snapped the three-day losing streak in which it had slumped almost 35 points or 1.1 percent. The Shanghai Composite Index now sits just above the 3,120-point plateau although it\'s likely to open in the red again on Friday.
The global forecast for the Asian markets suggests consolidation, largely on profit taking following recent gains. The European and U.S. markets were down and the Asian bourses are expected to follow suit.
The SCI finished slightly higher on Thursday as gains from the financial shares and property stocks were capped by weakness among the resource companies.
For the day, the index rose 2.50 points or 0.08 percent to finish at 3,122.40 after trading between 3,116.16 and 3,137.88. The Shenzhen Composite Index added 5.13 points or 0.29 percent to end at 1,764.71.
Among the actives, Industrial and Commercial Bank of China collected 0.56 percent, while Bank of China added 0.68 percent, China Construction Bank jumped 1.85 percent, China Merchants Bank soared 3.42 percent, Bank of Communications advanced 0.87 percent, China Life Insurance accelerated 2.31 percent, Jiangxi Copper tumbled 1.94 percent, Aluminum Corp of China (Chalco) gained 0.53 percent, Yankuang Energy rose 0.25 percent, PetroChina lost 0.61 percent, China Petroleum and Chemical (Sinopec) shed 0.47 percent, Huaneng Power tanked 2.08 percent, China Shenhua Energy retreated 1.42 percent, Gemdale surged 4.01 percent, Poly Developments rallied 3.14 percent and China Vanke skyrocketed 5.82 percent.
The lead from Wall Street ends up soft as the major averages spent most of Thursday in the green before a late wave of profit taking nudged them under water.
The Dow shed 38.62 points or 0.10 percent to finish at 39,869.38, while the NASDAQ sank 44.07 points or 0.26 percent to close at 16,698.32 and the S&P dipped 11.05 points or 0.21 percent to end at 5,297.10.
The early strength on Wall Street reflected an extension of the rally seen during Wednesday\'s session, which came amid optimism about the outlook for interest rates following tamer-than-expected consumer price inflation data.
Buying interest waned over the course of the session, however, with traders pausing to lock in recent gains.
In economic news, the Labor Department noted a pullback by initial jobless claims last week. Also, a separate Labor Department report showed U.S. import prices jumped more than expected in April, and industrial production came in flat last month.
Oil prices advanced on Thursday, continuing to benefit from recent data showing a larger than expected decline in crude inventories in the U.S. last week. Hopes of an interest rate cut in September contributed as well to the rise in oil prices. West Texas Intermediate crude oil futures for June ended higher by $0.60 at $79.23 a barrel.
Closer to home, China will release a batch of data this morning, including April figures for industrial production, retail sales, fixed asset investment and unemployment.
Industrial production is expected to rise 5.4 percent on year, up from 4.5 percent in March. Sales are seen higher by an annual 3.9 percent, up from 3.1 percent in the previous month. FAI is expected to tick up to 4.6 percent from 4.5 percent, while the jobless rate is seen steady at 5.2 percent.