China Stock Market Tipped To Open In The Green

The China stock market bounced higher again on Wednesday, one day after snapping the two-day winning streak in which it had gathered more than 30 points or 0.8 percent. The Shanghai Composite Index now sits just above the 3,580-point plateau and it's expected to move higher again on Thursday.

The global forecast for the Asian markets is upbeat on optimism following the inauguration of former Vice President Joe Biden as the 46th President of the United States. The European and U.S. markets were up and the Asian bourses figure to open in similar fashion.

The SCI finished modestly higher on Wednesday as gains from the energy producers were mitigated by weakness from the financials and properties.

For the day, the index gained 16.71 points or 0.47 percent to finish at 3,583.09 after trading between 3,556.44 and 3,589.96. The Shenzhen Composite Index jumped 33.90 points or 1.43 percent to end at 2,412.56.

Among the actives, Industrial and Commercial Bank of China dropped 0.96 percent, while Bank of China shed 0.62 percent, China Construction Bank tanked 2.45 percent, China Merchants Bank fell 0.25 percent, Bank of Communications skidded 1.09 percent, China Life Insurance surrendered 2.32 percent, Jiangxi Copper soared 2.40 percent, Aluminum Corp of China (Chalco) jumped 1.73 percent, Yanzhou Coal retreated 1.38 percent, PetroChina rose 0.23 percent, China Petroleum and Chemical (Sinopec) lost 0.24 percent, China Shenhua Energy gained 0.37 percent, Gemdale plunged 2.45 percent, Poly Developments plummeted 2.61 percent and China Vanke declined 2.49 percent.

The lead from Wall Street is broadly positive as stocks opened higher and picked up steam as the day progressed, sending the major averages to fresh record closing highs.

The Dow spiked 257.86 points or 0.83 percent to finish at 31,188.38, while the NASDAQ surged 260.07 points or 1.97 percent to end at 13,457.25 and the S&P 500 jumped 52.94 points or 1.39 percent to close at 3,851.85.

The rally on Wall Street was fueled by Biden's inauguration. The former VP has called for additional stimulus and an accelerated coronavirus vaccine rollout, which has helped offset concerns about higher taxes and increased regulation under a Democratic administration.

The president is expected to sign several executive orders shortly after taking office, including orders to rejoin the Paris climate agreement and end former President Donald Trump's Muslim travel ban as well as the construction of the U.S.-Mexico border well.

The spike by the tech-heavy NASDAQ was partly due to a sharp increase by shares of Netflix (NFLX) after the video streaming giant reached a record closing high after reporting strong fourth quarter subscriber growth.

Crude oil prices rose on Wednesday amid hopes the Biden administration will step up stimulus to boost growth, leading to increased demand for energy. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures contracts for February ended up $0.26 or 0.5 percent at $53.24 a barrel on expiration day.

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