Hang Seng Expected To Bounce Higher Again On Thursday

(RTTNews) - The Hong Kong stock market has alternated between positive and negative finishes through the last eight trading days since the end of the five-day losing streak in which it plummeted almost 1,450 points or 7 percent. The Hang Seng Index now sits just above the 20,670-point plateau although it's tipped to rebound again on Thursday.

The global forecast for the Asian markets is upbeat on encouraging news for interest rates. The European markets had modest gains and the U.S. bourses surged, and the Asian markets figure to split the difference.

The Hang Seng finished sharply lower on Wednesday following losses from the technology, casino and oil companies.

For the day, the index slumped 235.84 points or 1.13 percent to finish at 20,670.04 after trading between 20,572.42 and 20,770.10.

Among the actives, Country Garden Services plummeted 21.97 percent, while Longfor Group plunged 4.41 percent, WuXi Biologics tanked 4.13 percent, ANTA Sports tumbled 3.40 percent, Alibaba Group surrendered 3.26 percent, Li Ning declined 3.08 percent, Alibaba Health Information retreated 2.31 percent, China Resources Land slumped 2.04 percent, Galaxy Entertainment weakened 1.72 percent, Xiaomi Corporation skidded 1.70 percent, China Mengniu Dairy spiked 1.55 percent, Lenovo Group jumped 1.47 percent, CSPC Pharmaceutical dropped 1.07 percent, JD.com sank 1.03 percent, Hong Kong & China Gas climbed 0.98 percent, CK Infrastructure advanced 0.93 percent, China Life shed 0.67 percent, CNOOC lost 0.60 percent, Techtronic Industries fell 0.56 percent, Nongfu Spring added 0.32 percent, Meituan was down 0.31 percent, China Petroleum & Chemical (Sinopec) eased 0.27 percent, Henderson Land gained 0.18 percent, Hang Lung Properties rose 0.14 percent and Industrial and Commercial Bank of China, CITIC and New World Construction were unchanged.

The lead from Wall Street is broadly positive as the major averages opened slightly higher on Wednesday but skyrocketed late in the day after the FOMC rate decision.

The Dow spiked 436.05 points or 1.37 percent to finish at 32,197.59, while the NASDAQ surged 469.85 points or 4.06 percent to end at 12,032.42 and the S&P 500 jumped 102.56 points or 2.62 percent to close at 4,023.61.

Stocks were steady in early trading and then accelerated to the upside following the Federal Reserve's monetary policy decision and Fed Chair Jerome Powell's post-meeting press conference.

While the Fed announced another 75-basis-point interest rate, as widely expected, comments from Powell hinted at a slowdown in the pace of rate hikes at future meetings.

Crude oil prices surged higher Wednesday after data showed a drop in U.S. crude inventories last week, while cuts in Russian gas flows to Europe also contributed as oil's sharp rise. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for September climbed $2.28 or 2.4 percent at $97.26 a barrel.

Closer to home, the Hong Kong Monetary Authority will conclude its discussion on monetary policy today and announce its decision on interest rates; currently, the benchmark sits at 2.0 percent.