Consolidation Anticipated For Hong Kong Shares

(RTTNews) - The Hong Kong stock market has climbed higher in six straight sessions, skyrocketing more than 4,200 points or 21 percent along the way. The Hang Seng Index now sits just beneath the 22,450-point plateau although it's way past overdue for profit taking on Thursday.

The global forecast for the Asian markets suggests little movement as traders keep a watchful eye on the unrest in the Middle East. The European and U.S. markets were flat with a touch of upside and the Asian bourses figure to follow suit.

The Hang Seng finished with enormous gains again on Wednesday with support in every sector, especially the technology and property companies.

For the day, the index exploded for 1,310.05 points or 6.20 percent to finish at 22,443.73 after trading between 21,289.60 and 22,667.74.

Among the actives, Alibaba Group added 4.64 percent, while Alibaba Health Info skyrocketed 14.95 percent, ANTA Sports accelerated 7.89 percent, China Life Insurance spiked 9.73 percent, China Mengniu Dairy surged 10.96 percent, China Resources Land soared 10.47 percent, CITIC advanced 5.66 percent, CNOOC improved 5.05 percent, CSPC Pharmaceutical strengthened 6.28 percent, Galaxy Entertainment climbed 6.27 percent, Haier Smart Home jumped 7.37 percent, Hang Lung Properties soared 13.57 percent, Henderson Land rallied 9.68 percent, Hong Kong & China Gas gathered 2.19 percent, Industrial and Commercial Bank of China collected 4.31 percent, JD.com accelerated 10.77 percent, Lenovo advanced 4.72 percent, Li Auto spiked 12.40 percent, Li Ning perked 0.71 percent, Meituan surged 14.65 percent, New World Development rallied 9.84 percent, Nongfu Spring gained 2.92 percent, Techtronic Industries improved 3.13 percent, Xiaomi Corporation jumped 6.67 percent and WuXi Biologics skyrocketed 15.14 percent.

The lead from Wall Street suggests very mild upside as the major averages opened slightly lower on Wednesday, hugged the like throughout the session and finished barely higher.

The Dow added 39.55 points or 0.09 percent to finish at 42,196.52, while the NASDAQ gained 14.76 points or 0.08 percent to close at 17,925.12 and the S&P 500 perked 0.79 points or 0.01 percent to end at 5,709.54.

The early weakness on Wall Street partly reflected concerns about escalating tensions in the Middle East following Iran's ballistic missile attack against Israel on Tuesday.

While Iran has said it is not interested in a wider war, the attacks have contributed to a surge by the price of crude oil, leading to worries higher energy prices will lead to a spike in inflation.

Waning optimism the Federal Reserve will continue to aggressively lower interest rates also weighed on stocks after payroll processor ADP reported stronger than expected private sector job growth in the month of September.

Oil futures settled modestly higher on Wednesday as traders bet on a likely drop in supplies due the ongoing tensions in the Middle East. West Texas Intermediate crude oil futures for November ended up $0.27 or 0.39 percent at $70.10 a barrel.

Closer to home, Hong Kong will provide August figures for retail sales later today; in July, sales were down 11.8 percent on year.