Higher Open Anticipated For Hong Kong Shares

(RTTNews) - The Hong Kong stock market has moved higher in three straight sessions, advancing almost 1,150 points or 4.4 percent along the way. The Hang Seng Index now sits just beneath the 27,300-point plateau and it may see additional support on Friday.

The global forecast for the Asian markets is mixed to higher, with gains from the technology stocks likely offset by weakness from the oil companies. The European markets were mixed and the U.S. bourses were slightly higher and the Asian markets figure to split the difference.

The Hang Seng finished sharply higher on Thursday following gains from the technology stocks, while the finance and property sectors came in mixed.

For the day, the index spiked 431.56 points or 1.61 percent to finish at 27,287.12 after trading between 18,671.49 and 27,381.84.

Among the actives, Alibaba Group surged 3.45 percent, while ANTA Sports fell 0.48 percent, China Mengniu Dairy slumped 1.00 percent, China Resources Land plummeted 3.42 percent, CITIC sank 0.61 percent, CNOOC shed 0.58 percent, CSPC Pharmaceutical rallied 2.99 percent, Galaxy Entertainment perked 0.09 percent, Haier Smart Home climbed 1.03 percent, Hang Lung Properties stumbled 2.18 percent, Henderson Land improved 0.22 percent, Hong Kong & China Gas rose 0.44 percent, Industrial and Commercial Bank of China dipped 0.17 percent, JD.com accelerated 3.10 percent Lenovo strengthened 2.16 percent, Li Auto added 0.59 percent, Li Ning lost 0.57 percent, Meituan expanded 1.24 percent, New World Development spiked 3.20 percent, Nongfu Spring gained 0.46 percent, Techtronic Industries tumbled 2.16 percent, Xiaomi Corporation soared 3.33 percent, WuXi Biologics jumped 2.68 percent and China Life Insurance and Alibaba Health Info were unchanged.

The lead from Wall Street continues to be cautiously optimistic as the major averages recovered from a midday slump on Thursday to finish with mild gains at fresh record highs.

The Dow added 78.62 points or 0.17 percent to finish at 46,519.72, while the NASDAQ gained 88.89 points or 0.39 percent to end at 22,844.05 and the S&P 500 perked 4.15 points or 0.06 percent to close at 6,715.35.

The continued advance by the major averages reflected optimism about the artificial intelligence trade, which contributed to strength among tech stocks, especially Nvidia (NVDA) and Advanced Micro Devices (AMD).

Meanwhile, traders continued to shrug off concerns about the economic impact of the ongoing U.S. government shutdown, which entered its second day with no signs of an imminent resolution.

Due to the shutdown, the releases of reports on weekly jobless claims and factory orders that were scheduled for this week have been indefinitely postponed.

Crude oil prices tumbled on Thursday on anxiety about the long-term impact of the ongoing U.S. government shutdown, which enters the second day today. West Texas Intermediate crude for November delivery was down $1.23 or 1.99 percent at $60.55 per barrel.