The China stock market on Friday wrote a finish to the three-day slide in which it had slumped almost 35 points or 1.2 percent. The Shanghai Composite Index now sits just above the 2,840-point plateau and it may add to its winnings on Monday.
The global forecast for the Asian markets is upbeat on optimism over the outlook for interest rates. The European markets finished slightly lower and the U.S. bourses were up and the Asian markets are tipped to follow the latter lead.
The SCI finished modestly higher on Friday following gains from the properties, weakness from the financials and a mixed bag from the energy and resource stocks.
For the day, the index gained 19.11 points or 0.68 percent to finish at 2,842.21 after trading between 2,817.01 and 2,867.96. The Shenzhen Composite Index rallied 33.81 points or 2.24 percent to end at 1,544.23.
Among the actives, Industrial and Commercial Bank of China plunged 3.86 percent, while Bank of China retreated 2.44 percent, China Construction Bank plummeted 4.80 percent, China Merchants Bank tanked 2.37 percent, Agricultural Bank of China tumbled 4.03 percent, China Life Insurance rallied 2.71 percent, Jiangxi Copper added 0.59 percent, Aluminum Corp of China (Chalco) dipped 0.15 percent, Yankuang Energy improved 1.28 percent, PetroChina rose 0.34 percent, China Petroleum and Chemical (Sinopec) sank 0.87 percent, China Shenhua Energy lost 0.49 percent, Gemdale skyrocketed by the 10 percent daily limit, Poly Developments surged 5.32 percent, China Vanke soared 8.33 percent and Huaneng Power was unchanged.
The lead from Wall Street is solid as the major averages opened higher on Friday, faded midday but rallied going into the close.
The Dow climbed 228.03 points or 0.55 percent to finish at a fresh record 41,563.08, while the NASDAQ spiked 197.20 points or 1.13 percent to end at 17,713.62 and the S&P 500 gained 56.44 points or 1.01 percent to close at 5,648.40. For the week, the NASDAQ shed 0.9 percent, the Dow added 0.9 percent and the S&P rose 0.2 percent.
The higher close on Wall Street followed the Commerce Department report on U.S. consumer price inflation that is said to be preferred by the Federal Reserve. The report showed consumer prices increased in line with estimates in July, while the annual rate of price growth was unexpectedly flat.
While the data has reinforced expectations of an interest rate cut by the Fed this month, traders expressed uncertainty about the pace of rate cuts, leading to some volatility in the markets.
According to CME Groups FedWatch Tool, there is a 69.5 percent chance of a quarter-point rate cut next month and a 30.5 percent chance of a half-point rate cut.
Crude oil showed a significant move to the downside on Friday on reports that OPEC is set to proceed with a planned oil output hike from October. West Texas Intermediate crude for October delivery plunged $2.36 or 3.1 percent to $73.55 a barrel.