The China stock market has finished lower now in six straight sessions, plummeting nearly 135 points or 4.6 percent in the process. The Shanghai Composite Index finished just above the 2,735-point plateau, and now traders are hoping for a rebound at the opening of trade on Friday.
The global forecast for the Asian markets is mixed with an upside bias following contradictory economic data out of the United States and lingering debt concerns regarding Greece. Technology stocks are expected to provide support, along with properties and steel companies. The European markets finished mostly lower and the U.S. bourses were modestly higher - and the Asian markets are expected to split the difference.
The SCI finished slightly lower again on Thursday following consolidation from the steel companies and airlines.
For the day, the index eased 5.21 points or 0.2 percent to finish at 2,736.53 after trading between 2,734.54 and 2,764.89. The Shenzhen Composite Index lost 0.97 percent to end at 1,123.15.
Among the decliners, Baoshan Iron & Steel eased 0.2 percent, while Poly Real Estate Group shed 1.0 percent, China Southern Airlines lost 0.1 percent, Hainan Airlines fell 1.6 percent and Industrial Bank dropped 0.6 percent.
The lead from Wall Street remains cautiously optimistic as stocks moved mostly higher on Thursday, with technology stocks leading the way. The turnaround came as traders largely shrugged off a disappointing batch of economic data.
The strength was due in large part to an upward move by tech stocks, with data storage firm NetApp (NTAP) surging 6.9 percent to a three-month closing high. The gain by NetApp came after the company reported fourth quarter adjusted earnings of $0.59 per share compared to analyst estimates for earnings of $0.53 per share. The company also forecast better than expected first quarter results.
Software giant Microsoft (MSFT) also posted a notable gain, contributing to the strength in the tech sector. The gain by Microsoft came after Greenlight Capital President David Einhorn called for Steve Ballmer to be removed as the company's chief executive officer.
On the economic front, the Labor Department said that the number of Americans filing new applications for unemployment insurance unexpectedly increased in the week ended May 21. The report said 424,000 Americans filed initial claims for unemployment insurance, an increase of 10,000 from the previous week's revised figure of 414,000.The increase came as a surprise to economists, who had expected claims to drop to 404,000 from the 409,000 originally reported for the previous week.
A separate report from the Commerce Department showed that the pace of U.S. GDP growth in the first quarter unexpectedly came in unchanged from the advance estimate. GDP increased by 1.8 percent in the first quarter, while economists had been expecting the pace of GDP growth to be upwardly revised to 2.1 percent. However, analysts pointed out that traders saw the disappointing data as already priced into the markets.
The major averages all closed in positive territory, although the Dow posted a relatively modest gain. The Dow edged up by 8.10 points or 0.1 percent to 12,402.76, while the NASDAQ rose 21.54 points or 0.8 percent to 2,782.92 and the S&P 500 advanced 5.22 points or 0.4 percent to 1,325.69.
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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.