Additional Support Expected For Hong Kong Stock Market

(RTTNews) - The Hong Kong stock market has alternated between positive and negative finishes through the last six trading days since the end of the two-day winning streak in which it had rallied almost 500 points or 2.2 percent. The Hang Seng Index now sits just beneath the 23,575-point plateau and it's tipped to open higher again on Friday.

The global forecast for the Asian markets is mixed, with tariff concerns continuing to linger. The European markets were down and the U.S. bourses were up and the Asian markets figure to split the difference.

The Hang Seng finished sharply higher on Thursday following gains from the oil companies, property stocks and technology companies.

For the day, the index jumped 315.07 points or 1.35 percent to finish at 23,573.38 after trading between 23,207.37 and 23,603.82.

Among the actives, Alibaba Group jumped 2.07 percent, while Alibaba Health Info and Haier Smart Home both strengthened 1.95 percent, ANTA Sports spiked 4.18 percent, China Life Insurance collected 0.75 percent, China Mengniu Dairy perked 0.11 percent, China Resources Land advanced 0.99 percent, CITIC climbed 1.81 percent, CNOOC gathered 0.44 percent, CSPC Pharmaceutical skyrocketed 11.73 percent, Galaxy Entertainment accelerated 2.09 percent, Hang Lung Properties added 0.80 percent, Henderson Land was up 0.41 percent, Hong Kong & China Gas lost 0.14 percent, Industrial and Commercial Bank of China shed 0.17 percent, JD.com soared 4.19 percent, Lenovo rallied 3.17 percent, Li Auto dropped 0.64 percent, Li Ning gained 0.78 percent, Meituan surged 6.62 percent, New World Development increased 1.32 percent, Nongfu Spring rose 0.64 percent, Techtronic Industries improved 1.79 percent, Xiaomi Corporation fell 0.10 percent and WuXi Biologics exploded 10.04 percent.

The lead from Wall Street is positive as the major averages opened higher on Thursday, faded midday but bounced higher into the close.

The Dow climbed 117.03 points or 0.28 percent to finish at 42,215.73, while the NASDAQ added 74.93 points or 0.39 percent to close at 19,175.87 and the S&P 500 rose 23.62 points or 0.40 percent to end at 5,912.17.

Early buying interest was generated in reaction to news that a federal court blocked President Donald Trump's reciprocal tariffs on imports from U.S. trade partners from going into effect.

But the Trump administration immediately appealed the decision, and an appeals court temporarily paused the lower court's ruling later in the day.

A positive reaction to earnings news from Nvidia (NVDA) also contributed to initial strength on Wall Street after the company reported fiscal first quarter results that exceeded analyst estimates on both the top and bottom lines.

Crude oil futures moved sharply lower Thursday amid lingering supply concerns amid the possibility OPEC may accelerate oil production hikes in July. West Texas Intermediate crude for July delivery tumbled $0.90 or 1.5 percent to $60.94 a barrel.