Ahead of Monday's Labor Day holiday, the China stock market had moved higher in four consecutive sessions, adding almost 30 points or 0.9 percent along the way. The Shanghai Composite Index now rests just beneath the 3,155-point plateau although the market may run out of steam on Tuesday.
The global forecast for the Asian markets is mostly soft, although technology stocks may provide support - while a decline in the price of crude oil adds to the negative sentiment. The European markets were closed and the U.S. bourses were mostly in the red, and the Asian markets figure to follow suit.
The SCI finished barely higher on Friday as gains from the resource stocks were capped by weakness from the property sector.
For the day, the index picked up 2.47 points or 0.08 percent to finish at 3,154.66 after trading between 3,136.58 and 3,154.73. The Shenzhen Composite Index added 0.36 percent to end at 1,906.92.
Among the actives, Vanke skidded 1.32 percent, while Gemdale dipped 0.09 percent, PetroChina eased 0.13 percent, China Shenhua added 0.83 percent, Zijin Mining advanced 0.90 percent and China Unicom, Agricultural Bank of China and Bank of China all were unchanged.
The lead from Wall Street is weak as stocks were lackluster on Monday before ending mixed - although the tech-heavy NASDAQ hit a new record closing high.
The NASDAQ climbed 44.00 points or 0.7 percent to 6,091.60, while the Dow fell 27.05 points or 0.1 percent to 20,916.46 and the S&P rose 4.13 points or 0.2 percent to 2,388.33.
Traders were reluctant to make moves ahead of Wednesday's Federal Reserve's monetary policy announcement. The Fed figures to leave interest rates unchanged, but traders will examine the accompanying statement for clues about future rate hikes.
In economic news, the Institute for Supply Management said manufacturing activity slowed more than expected in April, while the Commerce Department said personal income rose slightly less than expected in March.
Crude oil futures tumbled Monday, extending recent losses amid doubts over whether OPEC can handle the lingering global supply glut. WTI oil was down 49 cents or 1 percent to $48.84/bbl, the lowest in more than a month.
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Market Analysis
May 08, 2026 15:50 ET Manufacturing and services sector survey results and labor market data from main economies were the highlight on the economics news front this week. Factory orders and jobs report dominated the news flow in the U.S. Similarly, industrial production data from German garnered attention in Europe. In Asia, purchasing managers’ survey results from China and the central bank decision from Australia were in focus.