The China stock market has moved higher now in three straight trading days, climbing more than 60 points or 2.7 percent en route to a two-month closing high. The Shanghai Composite Index finished just above the 2,350-point plateau, and now investors are looking for additional support when the market kicks off trade on Monday.
The global forecast for the Asian markets is cautiously optimistic following the passage of a critical austerity budget vote from the Greek Parliament although soft economic data from the United States may limit the upside. The European and U.S. markets were down on Friday, and the Asian markets are expected to tick higher after heavy selling on Friday.
The SCI finished barely higher on Friday but bucked the regional trend of decline as gains from the property stocks were offset by weakness from the financial sector.
For the day, the index added 2.39 points or 0.10 percent to finish at 2,351.98 after trading between 2,339.88 and 2,368.98. The Shenzhen Composite Index collected 0.5 percent to end at 903.64.
Among the actives, China Vanke jumped 2.0 percent and Poly Real Estate climbed 3.3 percent, while Bank of Communications shed 1.6 percent, Industrial and Commercial Bank of China lost 0.7 percent and China Citic Bank fell 0.7 percent.
The lead from Wall Street is negative as stocks saw notable weakness on Friday after moving modestly higher in the three previous sessions. Renewed concerns about the financial situation in Greece contributed to the pullback by the markets.
European finance ministers were unimpressed with the austerity agreement reached by Greek political leaders on Thursday, calling for an additional 325 million euros in savings. The other Eurozone countries are also calling for guarantees that the measures will be implemented before signing off on a new 130 billion euro bailout for the debt-plagued nation.
A report showing a notable drop in Chinese imports in January also contributed to the weakness on Wall Street, with the data raising concerns about the level demand in China. The report showed that the value of Chinese imports in January was down 15.3 percent compared to the same month a year ago.
Negative sentiment was also generated by a report from Reuters and the University of Michigan showing that U.S. consumer sentiment has deteriorated by more than expected in the month of February. The report showed that the consumer sentiment index dropped to a reading of 72.5 in February from January's final reading of 75.0. Economists had been expecting the index to edge down to 74.8.
A separate report from the Commerce Department showed that the U.S. trade deficit came in wider than expected in the month of December, with the value of imports increasing at a faster rate than the value of exports.
The major averages moved to the upside going into the close but still ended the day firmly in the red. The Dow slid 89.23 points or 0.7 percent to finish at 12,801.23, while the NASDAQ fell 23.35 points or 0.8 percent to 2,903.88 and the S&P 500 dropped 9.31 points or 0.7 percent at 1,342.64. The averages all closed modestly lower for the week as the Dow fell 0.5 percent, while the NASDAQ and the S&P 500 edged down by 0.1 percent and 0.2 percent, respectively.
In economic news, Chinese Prime Minister Wen Jiabao has pledged further reforms to solve problems with the nation's economic structure, unfair income distribution and corruption. The government should better handle issues related to people's livelihood and address public concerns on price levels, the affordability of housing, and incomes, Wen said in separate meetings over the past week to solicit views from representatives of different sections of the society on the draft of a government work report to be delivered at the annual session of the National People's Congress early next month.
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