Hong Kong Bourse Has Positive Lead For Friday's Trade

(RTTNews) - The Hong Kong stock market has moved higher in two of three trading days since the end of the three-day losing streak in which it had declined more than 570 points or 2.7 percent. The Hang Seng Index now sits just beneath the 21,650-point plateau and it's got a green light for Friday's trade.

The global forecast for the Asian markets is upbeat, with support expected from the oil and technology sectors. The European and U.S. markets were firmly higher and the Asian bourses are expected to open in similar fashion.

The Hang Seng finished modestly higher on Thursday following gains from the financials and casinos, weakness from the properties and mixed performances from the oil and technology shares.

For the day, the index gained 56.92 points or 0.26 percent to finish at the daily high of 21,643.58 after trading as low as 21,200.93.

Among the actives, AAC Technologies dropped 0.48 percent, while Alibaba Group dipped 0.26 percent, Alibaba Health Info tanked 1.23 percent, ANTA Sports spiked 2.57 percent, China Life Insurance added 0.48 percent, China Mengniu Dairy rallied 2.34 percent, China Petroleum and Chemical (Sinopec) fell 0.29 percent, China Resources Land rose 0.14 percent, CITIC jumped 2.24 percent, CNOOC skidded 0.61 percent, Country Garden plummeted 2.44 percent, CSPC Pharmaceutical plunged 1.84 percent, Galaxy Entertainment soared 3.06 percent, Hang Lung Properties declined 1.10 percent, Henderson Land lost 0.35 percent, Hong Kong & China Gas climbed 1.07 percent, Industrial and Commercial Bank of China collected 0.47 percent, JD.com tumbled 1.12 percent, Lenovo sank 0.42 percent, Li Ning surged 3.81 percent, Meituan retreated 0.77 percent, New World Development shed 0.37 percent, Techtronic Industries gained 0.46 percent, Xiaomi Corporation strengthened 1.82 percent and WuXi Biologics slumped 0.66 percent.

The lead from Wall Street is broadly positive as the major averages opened solidly higher on Thursday and stayed that way throughout the session.

The Dow spiked 346.87 points or 1.12 percent to finish at 31,384.55, while the NASDAQ surged 259.49 points or 2.28 percent to end at 11,621.35 and the S&P 500 jumped 57.54 points or 1.50 percent to close at 3,902.62.

The higher open on Wall Street came as traders continued to digest the minutes from the Federal Reserve's June meeting, which all but assured another significant rate hike in the Fed's bid to bring down inflation.

In economic news, the Commerce Department said the U.S. trade deficit narrowed less than expected in May, while the Labor Department reported that initial jobless claims rose more than expected.

The closely watched non-farm payroll report for June is due out from the Labor Department later today.

Crude oil futures settled higher on Thursday, regaining ground after two days of losses. Data showing a decline in gasoline supply last week, and the dollar's weakness supported oil prices. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for August ended higher by $4.20 or 4.3 percent at $102.73 a barrel.