The China stock market has moved lower in two of three trading days since the end of the 10-day winning streak in which it had skyrocketed more than 780 points or 27.9 percent. The Shanghai Composite now sits just beneath the 3,220-point plateau although its got a firm lead for Mondays trade.
The global forecast for the Asian markets is positive on optimism over the outlook for interest rates. The European and U.S. markets were up and the Asian bourses are expected to open in similar fashion.
The SCI finished sharply lower on Friday as investors locked in gains among the energy and resource stocks, while the financials and properties were mixed.
For the day, the index tumbled 84.19 points or 2.55 percent to finish at 3,217.74 after trading between 3,187.99 and 3,297.75. The Shenzhen Composite Index plunged 75.33 points or 3.94 percent to end at 1,834.94.
Among the actives, Bank of China collected 0.20 percent, while China Construction Bank improved 0.74 percent, China Merchants Bank sank 0.77 percent, Agricultural Bank of China rose 0.21 percent, China Life Insurance tanked 2.84 percent, Jiangxi Copper retreated 1.50 percent, Aluminum Corp of China (Chalco) added 0.35 percent, Yankuang Energy plunged 5.53 percent, PetroChina shed 0.46 percent, China Petroleum and Chemical (Sinopec) tumbled 1.89 percent, Huaneng Power stumbled 3.43 percent, China Shenhua Energy dropped 0.81 percent, Gemdale soared 3.26 percent, Poly Developments rallied 2.19 percent, China Vanke was down 0.22 percent and Industrial and Commercial Bank of China was unchanged.
The lead from Wall Street is upbeat as the major averages opened mixed on Friday but quickly moved to the upside and remained that way, ending near session highs.
The Dow rallied 409.76 points or 0.97 percent to finish at 42,863.86, while the NASDAQ added 60.94 points or 0.33 percent to close at 18,342.94 and the S&P 500 rose 34.98 points or 0.61 percent to end at 5,815.03. For the week, the Dow jumped 1.2 percent and the NASDAQ and S&P both gained 1.1 percent.
The strength on Wall Street partly a positive reaction to a Labor Department report showing producer prices in the U.S. were unexpectedly unchanged in September.
The data reinforced optimism that the Federal Reserve will continue lowering interest rates in the coming months, although hopes for another 50-basis point cut next month have largely evaporated.
On the corporate front, companies like Wells Fargo (WFC) and JPMorgan Chase (JPM) surged on strong quarterly results, while Tesla (TSLA) tumbled after unveiling its robotaxi.
Crude oil prices saw a modest pullback on Friday after surging in the previous session. West Texas Intermediate crude for November delivery dipped $0.29 or 0.4 percent to $75.56 a barrel. Despite the pullback on the day, the price of crude oil jumped by 1.6 percent for the week.
Closer to home, China will release September figures for imports, exports and trade balance later this morning. In August, imports were up 0.5 percent on year and exports jumped an annual 8.7 percent for a trade surplus of $91.02 billion.