Hong Kong Bourse Poised To Extend Its Gains

(RTTNews) - The Hong Kong stock market has climbed higher in three straight sessions, gathering more than 400 points or 1.9 percent along the way. The Hang Seng Index now rests just beneath the 21,740-point plateau and it's tipped to open in the green again on Monday.

The global forecast for the Asian market is upbeat on continued optimism over the outlook for interest rates. The European and U.S. markets were up and the Asian bourses are expected to open in similar fashion.

The Hang Seng finished sharply higher on Friday following gains from the technology stocks and oil companies, while the properties came in mixed.

For the day, the index jumped 224.56 points or 1.04 percent to finish at 21,738.66 after trading between 21,474.98 and 21,770.08.

Among the actives, Alibaba Group jumped 1.71 percent, while Alibaba Health Info soared 3.69 percent, ANTA Sports rose 0.27 percent, China Life Insurance advanced 0.81 percent, China Mengniu Dairy spiked 2.99 percent, China Resources Land eased 0.13 percent, CITIC lost 0.45 percent, CNOOC increased 1.16 percent, Country Garden rallied 2.24 percent, Galaxy Entertainment added 0.38 percent, Hang Lung Properties improved 1.23 percent, Henderson Land retreated 1.24 percent, Industrial and Commercial Bank of China collected 0.48 percent, JD.com gained 0.32 percent, Lenovo tumbled 2.02 percent, Li Ning slid 0.28 percent, Meituan skidded 1.04 percent, New World Development sank 0.67 percent, Techtronic Industries strengthened 1.61 percent, Xiaomi Corporation climbed 1.53 percent, WuXi Biologics surged 6.37 percent and CSPC Pharmaceutical and Hong Kong & China Gas both were unchanged.

The lead from Wall Street ends up positive as the major averages shook off early weakness on Friday, climbing into the green for good by the afternoon.

The Dow gained 112.61 points of 0.33 percent to finish at 34,302.61, while the NASDAQ jumped 78.06 points or 0.71 percent to end at 11,079.16 and the S&P 500 rose 15.92 points or 0.40 percent to close at 3,999.09.

For the week, the NASDAQ surged 4.8 percent, the S&P gained 2.7 percent and the Dow rose 2.0 percent.

The initial weakness on Wall Street came as traders looked to cash in on some the recent strength in the markets amid a negative reaction to earnings news from several big-name financial companies.

The recovery came as upbeat consumer sentiment and inflation expectations data helped offset the early negative sentiment.

Crude oil prices rose sharply Friday on optimism for less aggressive rate hikes in the United States after inflation slowed in December. West Texas Intermediate crude oil futures for February ended higher by $1.47 or 1.9 percent at $79.86 a barrel.