Hong Kong Bourse May Find Traction On Monday

(RTTNews) - The Hong Kong stock market has moved lower in two straight sessions, dropping almost 300 points or 1.3 percent along the way. The Hang Seng Index now sits just beneath the 23,350-point plateau although it's due for support on Monday.

The global forecast for the Asian markets is upbeat on optimism over the outlooks for tariffs and trade. The European and U.S. markets were up and the Asian bourses are expected to open in similar fashion.

The Hang Seng finished modestly lower on Friday as the financial shares, property stocks and technology companies were mostly in the red.

For the day, the index slumped 108.15 points or 0.46 percent to finish at 23,345.05 after trading between 23,190.31 and 23,374.70.

Among the actives, Alibaba Group plummeted 4.27 percent, while Alibaba Health Info rose 0.19 percent, ANTA Sports dropped 0.92 percent, China Life Insurance retreated 1.63 percent, China Mengniu Dairy and Techtronic Industries both added 0.33 percent, China Resources Land tumbled 1.75 percent, CITIC lost 0.41 percent, CNOOC skidded 1.03 percent, CSPC Pharmaceutical surged 3.15 percent, Galaxy Entertainment improved 0.94 percent, Haier Smart Home stumbled 2.11 percent, Hang Lung Properties advanced 0.98 percent, Henderson Land declined 1.44 percent, Industrial and Commercial Bank of China sank 0.89 percent, JD.com surrendered 2.66 percent, Li Auto accelerated 1.71 percent, Li Ning shed 0.78 percent, Meituan tanked 2.95 percent, New World Development plunged 3.47 percent, Xiaomi Corporation rallied 1.69 percent, WuXi Biologics slumped 1.26 percent and Hong Kong & China Gas, Lenovo and Nongfu Spring were unchanged.

The lead from Wall Street is positive as the major averages shook off a soft start on Friday and continued to trend higher throughout the day, ending at session highs.

The Dow rallied 331.94 points or 0.78 percent to finish at 42,654.74, while the NASDAQ added 98.80 points or 0.52 percent to close at 19,211.10 and the S&P 500 gained 41.45 points or 0.70 percent to end at 5,958.38.

For the week, the NASDAQ surged 7.2 percent, the S&P spiked 5.3 percent and the Dow soared 3.4 percent.

News of the U.S.-China trade deal generated considerable buying interest that carried over for much of the week. While uncertainty remains about the U.S. and its trade partners reaching deals that permanently lower tariffs, traders have continued to express optimism.

Meanwhile, traders largely shrugged off data from the University of Michigan showing consumer sentiment in the U.S. has unexpectedly continued to deteriorate in the month of May.

Crude oil futures showed a strong move to the upside on Friday amid optimism about U.S. trade policies. West Texas Intermediate crude for June delivery jumped $0.87 or 1.4 percent to $62.49 a barrel. For the week, the price of crude oil surged 2.4 percent.