Hang Seng Tipped To Open To The Upside On Friday

(RTTNews) - The Hong Kong stock market has moved lower in two of three trading days since the end of the eight-day winning streak in which it had surged almost 1,600 points or 7.1 percent. The Hang Seng Index now sits just above the 23,450-point plateau and it's expected to bounce higher again on Friday.

The global forecast for the Asian markets is upbeat on easing inflation and tariff concerns. The European markets were up and the U.S. bourses were mostly higher and the Asian markets figure to follow that lead.

The Hang Seng finished modestly lower on Thursday following losses from the property stocks, technology companies and insurance companies.

For the day, the index stumbled 187.49 points or 0.79 percent to finish at 23,453.16 after trading between 23,371.73 and 23,710.82.

Among the actives, Alibaba Group sank 1.15 percent, while Alibaba Health Info tanked 2.24 percent, ANTA Sports surrendered 2.11 percent, China Life Insurance retreated 1.85 percent, China Mengniu Dairy declined 1.71 percent, China Resources Land crashed 3.01 percent, CITIC slid 0.81 percent, CNOOC contracted 1.25 percent, CSPC Pharmaceutical fell 0.87 percent, Galaxy Entertainment dipped 0.78 percent, Haier Smart Home weakened 1.45 percent, Hang Lung Properties skidded 1.28 percent, Hong Kong & China Gas shed 0.99 percent, Industrial and Commercial Bank of China collected 0.18 percent, JD.com cratered 4.38 percent, Lenovo stumbled 2.69 percent, Li Auto slumped 1.33 percent, Li Ning tumbled 2.04 percent, Meituan plummeted 2.87 percent, New World Development plunged 2.78 percent, Nongfu Spring dropped 1.16 percent, Techtronic Industries lost 0.94 percent, Xiaomi Corporation slipped 0.50 percent, WuXi Biologics rose 0.21 percent and Henderson Land was unchanged.

The lead from Wall Street is mostly positive as the major averages opened in the red on Thursday but rallied to finish mixed.

The Dow jumped 271.69 points or 0.65 percent to finish at 42,322.75, while the NASDAQ dipped 34.49 points or 0.18 percent to close at 19,112.32 and the S&P 500 added 24.35 points or 0.41 percent to end at 5,916.93.

The choppy trading on day came as traders digested an avalanche of U.S. economic data, including a Labor Department report showing producer prices unexpectedly decreased in the month of April.

Another report from the Commerce Department showed a slight increase by U.S. retail sales in April. Meanwhile, the Federal Reserve said industrial production in the U.S. was unchanged in the month of April.

Crude oil futures showed a substantial move to the downside on Thursday on reports the U.S. is very close to reaching a nuclear deal with Iran. Crude for June delivery plunged $1.53 or 2.4 percent to $61.62 a barrel.

Closer to home, Hong Kong will release Q1 figures for gross domestic product later today; in the previous quarter, GDP was up 2.0 percent on quarter and 3.1 percent on year.