The China stock market has finished higher in four straight sessions, gathering more than 135 points or 4 percent along the way. The Shanghai Composite now sits just above the 3,300-point plateau although the rally may stall on Thursday.
The global forecast for the Asian markets is negative amid rising treasury yields and pessimism over the outlook for interest rates. The European and U.S. markets were down and the Asian bourses figure to follow that lead.
The JCI finished modestly higher on Wednesday following gains from the properties and mixed performances from the financial shares and resource stocks.
For the day, the index improved 16,94 points or 0.52 percent to finish at 3,302.80 after trading between 3,277.07 and 3,331.08. The Shenzhen Composite Index rose 2.92 points or 0.15 percent to end at 1,956.56.
Among the actives, Bank of China collected 0.40 percent, while China Merchants Bank improved 1.25 percent, Agricultural Bank of China fell 0.21 percent, China Life Insurance spiked 2.97 percent, Jiangxi Copper shed 0.35 percent, Aluminum Corp of China (Chalco) retreated 1.36 percent, Yankuang Energy lost 0.43 percent, PetroChina rose 0.24 percent, China Petroleum and Chemical (Sinopec) eased 0.15 percent, Huaneng Power dipped 0.14 percent, China Shenhua Energy dropped 0.94 percent, Gemdale jumped 1.43 percent, Poly Developments was down 0.18 percent, China Vanke advanced 0.97 percent and Industrial and Commercial Bank of China
China Construction Bank
The lead from Wall Street is weak as the major averages opened lower on Wednesday and remained in the red throughout the trading day, albeit bouncing off session lows.
The Dow plunged 409.94 points or 0.96 percent to finish at 42,514.95, while the NASDAQ plummeted 296.47 points or 1.60 percent to close at 18,276.47 and the S&P 500 dropped 53.78 points or 0.92 percent to end at 5,797.42.
The weakness on Wall Street came amid a continued increase by treasury yields, which have moved sharply higher over the past few sessions.
The yield on the benchmark ten-year note has risen to its highest level in almost three months amid worries the Federal Reserve will lower interest rates slower than previously anticipated.
While the Fed is still widely expected to lower interest rates by a quarter-point next month, there is increasing skepticism about another rate cut in December.
Oil prices fell on Wednesday, weighed down by data showing a larger than expected increase in U.S. crude oil inventories last week, while a stronger dollar also weighed. West Texas Intermediate crude oil futures for December fell $0.97 or 1.35 percent at $70.77 a barrel.