Higher Open Called For Hong Kong Stock Market

(RTTNews) - The Hong Kong stock market on Friday wrote a finish to the four-day winning streak in which it had rallied more than 570 points or 2.4 percent. The Hang Seng Index now rests just above the 24,850-point plateau although it may bounce higher again on Monday.

The global forecast for the Asian markets is upbeat, with technology and financial shares likely to lead the way higher. The European markets were mixed and the U.S. bourses were up and the Asian markets are also expected to tick higher on Monday.

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

For the day, the index slumped 222.78 points or 0.89 percent to finish at 24,858.82 after trading between 24,812.12 and 24,999.11.

Among the actives, Alibaba Group plummeted 2.43 percent, while Alibaba Health Info fell 0.60 percent, ANTA Sports was down 0.28 percent, China Life Insurance stumbled 1.66 percent, China Mengniu Dairy tanked 1.68 percent, China Resources Land improved 0.61 percent, CITIC rose 0.09 percent, CNOOC slipped 0.53 percent, CSPC Pharmaceutical surged 5.99 percent, Galaxy Entertainment retreated 1.31 percent, Haier Smart Home eased 0.08 percent, Hang Lung Properties tumbled 1.34 percent, Henderson Land slumped 1.13 percent, Hong Kong & China Gas gained 0.14 percent, Industrial and Commercial Bank of China lost 0.65 percent, JD.com surrendered 1.44 percent, Lenovo skidded 1.08 percent, Li Auto perked 0.05 percent, Li Ning declined 1.20 percent, Meituan dropped 0.98 percent, New World Development sank 0.70 percent, Nongfu Spring added 0.22 percent, Techtronic Industries shed 0.69 percent, Xiaomi Corporation weakened 1.16 percent and WuXi Biologics plunged 2.20 percent.

The lead from Wall Street is firm as the major averages opened higher on Friday and remained well in the green throughout the session, finishing near daily highs.

The Dow climbed 206.97 points or 0.47 percent to finish at 44,175.61, while the NASDAQ jumped 207.32 points or 0.98 percent to close at a record 21,450.02 and the S&P 500 gained 49.45 points or 0.78 percent to end at 6,389.45.

For the week, the NASDAQ rallied 3.9 percent, the S&P 500 surged 2.4 percent and the Dow shot up 1.4 percent.

Wall Street was led higher by the tech sector as shares of Apple (AAPL) showed a substantial move to the upside last week after announcing plans to spend about $600 billion in the U.S. over the next four years.

Computer hardware stocks turned in some of the market's best performances on the day, with the NYSE Arca Computer Hardware Index climbing by 1.4 percent. Significant strength also emerged among banking, oil service, brokerage and networking stocks.

Crude oil posted very slight gains on Friday as uncertainty prevails over the U.S.-Russia conflict over the war with Ukraine, combined with the threat of sanctions on Russian oil exports. West Texas Intermediate crude for September was up $0.03 or 0.05 percent to $63.91 per barrel.