Hong Kong Bourse May Extend Friday's Losses

(RTTNews) - The Hong Kong stock market has alternated between positive and negative finishes through the last four trading days since the end of the three-day slide in which it had plummeted more than 840 points or 3.8 percent. The Hang Seng Index now sits just above the 21,190-point plateau and it's expected to open under pressure again on Monday.

The global forecast for the Asian markets is mixed to lower thanks to continuing concerns over the outlook for interest rates. The European markets were down and the U.S. bourses were mixed and the Asian markets are expected to split the difference.

The Hang Seng finished sharply lower on Friday following losses from the financials, technology stocks and oil companies, while the properties were mixed.

For the day, the index plummeted 433.98 points or 2.01 percent to finish at 21,190.42 after trading between 21,157.52 and 21,579.99.

Among the actives, Alibaba Group and Xiaomi Corporation both retreated 3.25 percent, while Alibaba Health Info tanked 5.17 percent, ANTA Sports tumbled 5.03 percent, China Life Insurance slumped 2.72 percent, China Mengniu Dairy weakened 2.37 percent, China Resources Land sank 1.35 percent, CITIC rose 0.11 percent, CNOOC dropped 1.40 percent, Country Garden plummeted 7.13 percent, CSPC Pharmaceutical shed 1.34 percent, Galaxy Entertainment fell 1.01 percent, Hang Lung Properties added 0.38 percent, Henderson Land advanced 0.86 percent, Hong Kong & China Gas and Hengan International Group both were down 0.26 percent, Industrial and Commercial Bank of China eased 0.25 percent, JD.com plunged 6.32 percent, Lenovo stumbled 3.10 percent, Li Ning surrendered 3.99 percent, Meituan declined 3.52 percent, New World Development lost 1.24 percent, Techtronic Industries slid 0.86 percent and WuXi Biologics skidded 1.75 percent.

The lead from Wall Street is inconsistent as the major averages opened lower on Friday, although only the NASDAQ ended the session in the red.

The Dow climbed 169.37 points or 0.50 percent to finish at 33,869.27, while the NASDAQ sank 71.48 points or 061 percent to end at 11,718.12 and the S&P 500 rose 8.96 points or 0.22 percent to close at 4,090.46.

For the week, the NASSDAQ tumbled 2.4 percent, the S&P lost 1.1 percent and the Dow dipped 0.2 percent.

The choppy trading on Wall Street reflected lingering uncertainty about the outlook for interest rates ahead of this week's closely watched inflation data.

Traders also reacted to mixed February consumer sentiment data released by the University of Michigan. While consumer sentiment saw a continued improvement in February, the report also showed a rebound in near-term inflation expectations.

Crude oil futures settled sharply higher Friday on continued optimism about higher fuel demand from China, and on Russia's move to reduce oil output next month. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for March ended higher by $1.66 or 2.1 percent at $79.72 a barrel. WTI crude futures gained 9 percent in the week.