Additional Support Tipped For Hong Kong Stocks

(RTTNews) - The Hong Kong stock market has alternated between positive and negative finishes through the last four trading days since the end of the two-day winning streak in which it had jumped more than 360 points or 1.4 percent. The Hang Seng Index now sits just beneath the 26,550-point plateau and it may add to its winnings on Monday.

The global forecast for the Asian markets is mixed to higher on continued optimism over the outlook for interest rates. The European markets were slightly lower and the U.S. bourses were up and the Asian markets figure to split the difference.

The Hang Seng finished barely higher on Friday following mixed performances from the properties and technology stocks, while the financial shares were soft.

For the day, the index perked 0.25 points or 0.00 percent to finish at 26,545.10 after trading between 26,414.11 and 26,637.64.

Among the actives, Alibaba Group gained 0.44 percent, while Alibaba Health Info shed 0.30 percent, ANTA Sports rallied 2.65 percent, China Life Insurance eased 0.09 percent, China Mengniu Dairy advanced 0.99 percent, China Resources Land rose 0.19 percent, CITIC slumped 0.74 percent, CNOOC climbed 1.21 percent, CSPC Pharmaceutical and SKI Holdings both tumbled 1.97 percent, Galaxy Entertainment soared 4.22 percent, Haier Smart Home added 0.67 percent, Hang Lung Properties sank 0.45 percent, Henderson Land jumped 1.51 percent, Hong Kong & China Gas retreated 1.43 percent, HSBC Holdings lost 0.37 percent, Industrial and Commercial Bank of China dropped 0.51 percent, JD.com spiked 3.35 percent, Lenovo improved 0.92 percent, Li Auto declined 1.08 percent, Meituan increased 0.76 percent, New World Development surged 4.40 percent, Nongfu Spring strengthened 1.30 percent, Techtronic Industries accelerated 2.76 percent, Xiaomi Corporation lost 0.26 percent, WuXi Biologics stumbled 2.88 percent and Li Ning was unchanged.

The lead from Wall Street is upbeat as the major averages opened higher on Friday and remained in the green throughout the session, hitting fresh record closing highs.

The Dow jumped 172.85 points or 0.37 percent to finish at 46,315.27, while the NASDAQ climbed 160.75 points or 0.72 percent to end at 22,631.48 and the S&P 500 added 32.40 points or 0.49 percent to close at 6,664.36.

For the week, the NASDAQ surged 2.2 percent, while the S&P gained 1.2 percent and the Dow rose 1.1 percent.

Optimism about lower interest rates has contributed to the strength on Wall Street, with the Federal Reserve cutting rates by a quarter point on Wednesday and signaling two more rate cuts this year.

Overall trading activity appeared somewhat subdued, however, as a lack of major U.S. economic data kept some traders on the sidelines.

Crude oil dropped on Friday as traders dissected the Federal Reserve's message, hinting at underlying risks to the economy and stoking demand concerns. West Texas Intermediate crude for October delivery was down $0.91 or 1.43 percent at $62.66 per barrel.

Closer to home, Hong Kong will release August figures for consumer prices later today; in July, inflation was up 0.6 percent on month and 1.0 percent on year.