Hong Kong Bourse Expected To Remain Rangebound

(RTTNews) - The Hong Kong stock market has moved lower in two of three trading days since the end of the two-day winning streak in which it had jumped more than 360 points or 1.4 percent. The Hang Seng Index now sits just beneath the 26,550-point plateau although it's likely to move back to the upside again on Friday.

The global forecast for the Asian markets is upbeat, with technology stocks expected to lead the way higher. The European and U.S. markets were up and the Asian bourses are expected to follow that lead.

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

For the day, the index stumbled 363.54 points or 1.35 percent to finish at 26,544.85 after trading between 26,322.08 and 27,058.03.

Among the actives, Alibaba Group tumbled 1.98 percent, Alibaba Health Info plunged 2.77 percent, ANTA Sports tanked 2.53 percent, China Life Insurance retreated 1.85 percent, China Mengniu Dairy surrendered 2.14 percent, China Resources Land stumbled 2.30 percent, CITIC fell 0.57 percent, CNOOC slumped 1.75 percent, CSPC Pharmaceutical rallied 1.30 percent, Galaxy Entertainment skidded 1.74 percent, Haier Smart Home plummeted 3.04 percent, Hang Lung Properties tumbled 1.87 percent, Henderson Land lost 0.64 percent, Hong Kong & China Gas slid 0.43 percent, Industrial and Commercial Bank of China contracted 1.17 percent, JD.com declined 1.76 percent, Lenovo dipped 0.33 percent, Li Auto plunged 2.58 percent, Li Ning stumbled 1.88 percent, Meituan gained 0.29 percent, New World Development plummeted 3.64 percent, Nongfu Spring sank 1.65 percent, Techtronic Industries advanced 0.69 percent, Xiaomi Corporation dropped 1.73 percent and WuXi Biologics shed 0.82 percent.

The lead from Wall Street is firm as the major averages opened higher on Thursday and remained in the green throughout the trading day, ending near session highs.

The Dow climbed 124.10 points or 0.27 percent to finish at 46,142.42, while the NASDAQ rallied 209.40 points or 0.94 percent to end at 22,470.72 and the S&P 500 gained 31.61 points or 0.48 percent to close at 6,631.96.

Technology stocks led the markets higher amid a spike by shares of Intel (INTC), with the chipmaker skyrocketing by 22.8 percent to its best closing level in over a year.

The rally by Intel came after the company announced a collaboration with Nvidia (NVDA) to jointly develop multiple generations of custom data center and PC products.

In U.S. economic news, the Labor Department said initial jobless claims pulled back by more than expected last week. Also, the Conference Board said its reading on leading U.S. economic indicators fell more than expected in August.

Crude oil fell on Thursday after the U.S. Federal Reserve hinted at a slowdown by the American economy. West Texas Intermediate crude for October delivery was down $0.46 or 0.72 percent at $63.59 per barrel.