1/29/2012 7:53 PM ET
(RTTNews) - Ahead of the week-long holiday for the Lunar New Year, the China stock market had closed higher in two straight sessions, gathering more than 50 points or 2.1 percent along the way. The Shanghai Composite settled just below the 2,320-point plateau, although now traders are expected to encounter mild selling pressure when the market opens on Monday.
The global forecast for the Asian markets suggests a mild withdrawal following uninspired gross domestic product figures from the United States and lingering debt concerns from Europe. Some of the regional bourses are ripe for profit-taking, adding to the cautious sentiment while prompting support for gold as a safe haven. The European markets finished lower on Friday and the U.S. bourses were mixed but little changed - and the Asian markets are also expected to slide.
The SCI finished sharply higher on January 20 with broadly based gains, although the financial shares were particularly strong.
For the day, the index jumped 23.04 points or 1.00 percent to finish at 2319.12 after trading between 2,293.89 and 2,322.89. The Shenzhen Composite Index jumped 1.6 percent to end at 861.15.
Among the gainers, Shenzhen Development Bank surged 6.3 percent, while China Life added 1.7 percent, Ping An climbed 1.5 percent and China Pacific jumped 2.9 percent.
Wall Street puts forth little guidance as stocks were lackluster on Friday with traders digesting weaker than expected U.S. economic growth in the final three months of last year.
Before the start of trading, the Commerce Department said GDP increased at an annual rate of 2.8 percent in the fourth quarter compared to the 1.8 percent growth seen in the third quarter - but shy of expectations for an increase of 3.1 percent. Economists were also disappointed that much of the GDP growth in the fourth quarter was due to a positive contribution from private inventory investment.
However, Reuters and the University of Michigan said their consumer sentiment index for January was upwardly revised to a reading of 75.0 from the mid-month reading of 74.0, coming in well above the final December reading of 69.9. The revised reading also marked an eleven-month high for the consumer sentiment index, which is at its best level since coming in at 77.5 last February.
Among individual stocks, auto giant Ford (F) fell by 4.2 percent after reporting weaker than expected fourth quarter earnings due to weakness overseas. Procter & Gamble (PG) also ended the day in the red after the consumer products giant reported a sharp drop in fourth quarter earnings and lowered its full-year earnings guidance.
1
2
Next Page