The China stock market on Wednesday wrote a finish to the modest two-day winning streak in which it had gathered nearly 30 points or 1 percent. The Shanghai Composite Index finished just above the 2,880-point plateau, and now analysts are projecting continued selling pressure at the opening of trade on Thursday.
The global forecast for the Asian markets is fairly negative following a heavy selloff among commodity stocks. Gold and oil in particular figure to lead the markets lower, along with properties and technology stocks. The European markets finished mixed but little changed, while the U.S. bourses ended sharply lower - and the Asian markets are also expected to track to the downside.
The SCI finished slightly lower on Wednesday, with sentiment dampened by a batch of uninspired economic data that triggered fears of further tightening measures. Energy producers led the market lower.
For the day, the index fell 7.21 points or 0.3 percent to finish at 2,883.42 after trading between 2,868.35 and 2,897.14. The Shenzhen Composite Index added 2.04 points or 0.2 percent to end at 1,212.27.
Among the actives, Huadian Power shed 2.3 percent, Datang Power lost 1.2 percent and Sichuan Guangan fell 2.9 percent, while Conch Cement added 1.8 percent, Huaxin Cement collected 1.7 percent and Fujian Cement surged 6.7 percent.
The lead from Wall Street is brutal as stocks showed a substantial move to the downside on Wednesday, with a sharp drop by commodities prices contributing to significant weakness among resource stocks. Profit taking may have also contributed to the downward move following the gains seen in the three previous sessions.
Energy stocks posted particularly steep losses amid a sharp drop in the price of crude oil. Crude for June delivery plummeted $5.67 to $98.21 a barrel following the release of a report showing a bigger than expected weekly increase in crude oil inventories. The pullback by commodities prices came after the prices moved mostly higher in the two previous sessions, recovering from the sell-off seen last week. Strength in the value of the U.S. dollar contributed to the downturn.
Selling pressure was also generated by the release of disappointing quarterly results from Disney (DIS), with the entertainment giant showing a notable drop and helping to drag the Dow firmly into the red. Disney reported fiscal Q2 earnings of $0.49 per share on revenues of $9.08 billion, while analysts had expected earnings of $0.56 per share on revenues of $9.13 billion.
On the economic front, the Commerce Department released a report before the start of trading showing a wider than expected U.S. trade deficit in March. The report showed that the trade deficit widened to $48.2 billion in March from a revised $45.4 billion in February. Economists had expected the deficit to widen to $47.7 billion from the $45.8 billion deficit originally reported for the previous month.
While analysts have pointed out that the wider trade deficit was largely due to higher oil prices, the data could still lead to a downward revision to the pace of GDP growth that was reported for the first quarter.
The major averages ended the session off their worst levels of the day but still closed firmly in negative territory. The Dow fell by 130.33 points or 1 percent to 12,630.03, the NASDAQ dropped 26.83 points or 0.9 percent to 2,845.06 and the S&P 500 slid 15.08 points or 1.1 percent to 1,342.08.
In economic news, the consumer inflation rate in China came in at 5.3 percent in April, the National Bureau of Statistics said on Wednesday. That was slightly above forecasts for 5.2 percent after showing 5.4 percent in March. Producer price inflation fell to 6.8 percent, well below expectations for 7.0 percent following the 7.3 percent gain in the previous month.
Industrial production was well shy of forecasts in April, coming in at 13.4 percent higher on year. Analysts had been expecting an annual increase of 14.6 percent following the 14.8 percent gain in March. Retail sales were up 17.1 percent on year, below expectations for a rise of 17.6 percent on year after adding an annual 17.4 percent in the previous month.
Fixed-asset investment jumped 25.4 percent on year in April, topping forecasts for a gain of 24.9 percent on year following the 25.0 percent increase a month earlier.
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June 05, 2026 16:18 ET A busy week for economic news flow saw a slew of reports being released that reflected the trends in the U.S. labor market. In Europe, economic growth and inflation data gained attention as the European Central Bank and Bank of England head for policy session later in the month. In Asia, the monetary policy session of the Indian central bank was in focus as the country, a major oil importer, reels under the pressures of a weaker rupee and rising inflation.