Hang Seng May Extend Tuesday's Losses

(RTTNews) - The Hong Kong stock market headed south again on Tuesday, one day after ending the five-day losing streak in which it had given up more than 850 points or 3 percent. The Hang Seng Index now sits just shy of the 24,670-point plateau and it may be stuck in neutral again on Wednesday.

The global forecast for the Asian markets is negative on rising crude oil prices and treasury yields, and ahead of the U.S. rate decision later today. The European and U.S. markets were down and the Asian bourses are expected to open in similar fashion.

The Hang Seng finished sharply lower on Tuesday following losses among the financial shares and manufacturing companies and a mixed picture from the technology stocks.

For the day, the index dropped 250.36 points or 1.00 percent to finish at 24,667.24 after trading between 24,657.01 and 24,934.06.

The lead from Wall Street is weak as the major averages opened lower on Tuesday and remained in the red throughout the trading day.

The Dow dropped 328.09 points or 0.63 percent to finish at 62,093.11, while the NASDAQ shed 204.84 points or 0.78 percent to end at 25,981.57 and the S&P 500 fell 34.25 points or 0.45 percent to close at 7,585.73.

The weakness on Wall Street came amid a notable increase in treasury yields, with the yield on the benchmark ten-year note reaching its highest intraday level since July 2007.

Concerns about the outlook for inflation and interest rates have driven yields higher ahead of the Federal Reserve's monetary policy decision later today. The Fed is widely expected to raise interest rates, with CME Group's FedWatch Tool currently indicating a 94.5 percent chance of a quarter-point rate hike.

A sharp increase by the price of crude oil also weighed on stocks amid reports of fresh Houthi strikes on Saudi Arabia. But traders seemed reluctant to make more significant moves ahead of the Fed's monetary policy announcement.

Crude oil prices surged on Tuesday as supply concerns mount after Saudi Arabia shut its East-West pipeline. West Texas Intermediate crude for October delivery was up $4.37 or 4.31 percent at $105.76 per barrel.