Hang Seng Tipped To Bounce Higher Again On Thursday

(RTTNews) - The Hong Kong stock market on Wednesday ended the two-day winning streak in which it had advanced more than 360 points or 2 percent. The Hang Seng Index now sits just above the 18,480-point plateau although it's likely to see renewed support on Thursday.

The global forecast for the Asian markets suggests mild upside on improved optimism over the outlook for interest rates. European markets were mixed and the U.S. bourses were up and the Asian markets figure to split the difference.

The Hang Seng finished barely lower on Wednesday following mixed performances from the financial shares, property stocks and technology companies.

For the day, the index eased 1.17 points or 0.01 percent to finish at 18,482.86 after trading between 18,427.22 and 18,742.14.

Among the actives, Alibaba Group sank 0.61 percent, while Alibaba Health Info tanked 2.08 percent, ANTA Sports spiked 2.87 percent, China Life Insurance collected 0.34 percent, China Mengniu Dairy tumbled 1.57 percent, China Resources Land jumped 1.95 percent, CITIC slumped 0.63 percent, CNOOC advanced 0.92 percent, Country Garden plummeted 2.43 percent, CSPC Pharmaceutical and Nongfu Spring both declined 1.16 percent, Galaxy Entertainment climbed 1.27 percent, Hang Lung Properties eased 0.19 percent, Henderson Land rallied 1.62 percent, Hong Kong & China Gas shed 0.52 percent, Industrial and Commercial Bank of China lost 0.56 percent, JD.com retreated 1.49 percent, Lenovo surged 3.84 percent, Li Ning added 0.53 percent, Meituan plunge 2.26 percent, New World Development soared 3.15 percent, Techtronic Industries fell 0.25 percent and Xiaomi Corporation and WuXi Biologics both improved 0.65 percent

The lead from Wall Street ends up positive as the major averages opened higher on Wednesday, survived some early volatility and managed to finish in the green.

The Dow added 37.57 points or 0.11 percent to finish at 34,890.24, while the NASDAQ jumped 75.55 points or 0.11 percent to close at 14,019.31 and the S&P 500 rose 17.24 points or 0.38 percent to end at 4,514.87.

The strength on Wall Street came following the release of a report from payroll processor ADP showing a notable slowdown in the pace of private sector job growth in August.

The slightly smaller than expected increase in private sector employment added to recent optimism about the outlook for interest rates.

Separately, revised data from the Commerce Department showed the U.S. economy grew less than previously estimated in the second quarter.

Crude oil prices climbed higher Wednesday after data showed a big drop in U.S. crude inventories last week. The dollar's continued weakness and the impact of Hurricane Idalia on oil fields along Florida's Gulf Coast also supported prices. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for October rose $0.47 or 0.6 percent at $81.63 a barrel.

Closer to home, Hong Kong will release July numbers for retail sales later today; in June, sales were up 19.6 percent on year.