Hang Seng Poised To Reclaim Friday's Losses

(RTTNews) - The Hong Kong stock market headed south again on Friday, one day after ending the four-day losing streak in which it had tumbled more than 910 points or 5.3 percent. The Hang Seng Index now sits just above the 16,830-point plateau although it's likely to see renewed support on Monday.

The global forecast for the Asian markets is positive on growing optimism over the outlook for interest rates. The European and U.S. markets were solidly higher and the Asian bourses are expected to open in similar fashion.

The Hang Seng finished sharply lower on Friday following losses from the financial shares, technology stocks and properties.

For the day, the index tumbled 212.60 points or 1.25 percent to finish at the daily low of 16,830.30 after peaking at 17,038.98.

Among the actives, Alibaba Group shed 1.24 percent, while Alibaba Health Info dropped 1.58 percent, ANTA Sports tumbled 3.13 percent, China Life Insurance dipped 0.76 percent, China Mengniu Dairy surrendered 3.47 percent, China Resources Land declined 2.27 percent, CITIC slumped 2.04 percent, CNOOC skidded 1.84 percent, Country Garden tanked 3.79 percent, CSPC Pharmaceutical jumped 1.56 percent, Galaxy Entertainment rallied 1.24 percent, Haier Smart Home plunged 3.97 percent, Hang Lung Properties added 0.57 percent, Hong Kong & China Gas lost 1.12 percent, Industrial and Commercial Bank of China sank 1.34 percent, JD.com slid 0.84 percent, Lenovo slipped 0.62 percent, Meituan stumbled 2.98 percent, New World Development plummeted 4.48 percent, Techtronic Industries fell 0.88 percent, Xiaomi Corporation retreated 2.94 percent and WuXi Biologics, Henderson Land and Li Ning were unchanged.

The lead from Wall Street is upbeat as the major averages shook off early weakness on Friday, quickly moving firmly into the green and staying that way for the remainder of the session.

The Dow spiked 294.61 points or 0.82 percent to finish at 36,245.50, while the NASDAQ rallied 78.83 points or 0.55 percent to close at 14,305.03 and the S&P 500 added 26.83 points or 0.59 percent to end at 4,594.63.

For the week, the Dow surged 2.4 percent, the S&P 500 increased 0.8 percent and the NASDAQ rose 0.4 percent.

The strength on Wall Street reflected ongoing optimism about the outlook for interest rates following a report from the Institute for Supply Management showing continued contraction in U.S. manufacturing activity last month.

Some analysts suggested that the weaker-than-expected ISM survey may spur expectations that the Fed's next move is an interest rate cut.

Crude oil prices fell sharply on Friday, extending losses from the previous session amid mounting skepticism over OPEC output cuts. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for January ended lower by $1.89 or 2.5 percent at $74.07 a barrel. Oil prices have now fallen in six straight weeks.