Hong Kong Bourse Poised To Halt Losing Streak

(RTTNews) - The Hong Kong stock market has moved lower in five straight sessions, tumbling more than 900 points or 4.5 percent along the way. The Hang Seng Index now rests just beneath the 19,050-point plateau although it's overdue for support on Thursday.

The global forecast for the Asian markets is upbeat on bargain hunting and easing concerns over the outlook for interest rates. The European markets were mixed and the U.S. bourses were sharply higher and the Asian markets figure to split the difference.

The Hang Seng finished modestly lower on Wednesday following losses from the financial shares, oil companies and technology stocks, while the properties were mixed.

For the day, the index sank 158.43 points or 0.83 percent to finish at 19,044.30 after trading between 18,818.78 and 19,068.90.

Among the actives, Alibaba Group dropped 0.74 percent, while Alibaba Health Info tanked 1.86 percent, ANTA Sports lost 0.50 percent, China Life Insurance stumbled 0.90 percent, China Petroleum and Chemical (Sinopec) shed 0.54 percent, China Resources Land rose 0.15 percent, CITIC added 0.74 percent, CNOOC plunged 1.88 percent, Country Garden skidded 0.80 percent, CSPC Pharmaceutical jumped 1.28 percent, Galaxy Entertainment plummeted 2.24 percent, Hang Lung Properties dipped 0.15 percent, Henderson Land retreated 1.19 percent, Hong Kong & China Gas weakened 0.81 percent, Industrial and Commercial Bank of China fell 0.26 percent, JD.com slumped 1.18 percent, Lenovo tumbled 1.78 percent, Li Ning and Meituan both sank 0.75 percent, Longfor advanced 0.76 percent, New World Development gained 0.20 percent, Techtronic Industries slid 0.22 percent, Xiaomi Corporation surrendered 1.28 percent, WuXi Biologics declined 1.25 percent and China Mengniu Dairy and CK Infrastructure were unchanged.

The lead from Wall Street is broadly positive as the major averages opened slightly higher on Wednesday but accelerated as the day progressed, ending near session highs.

The Dow surged 435.98 points or 1.40 percent to finish at 31,581.28, while the NASDAQ rallied 246.99 points or 2.14 percent to end at 11,791.90 and the S&P 500 jumped 71.68 points or 1.83 percent to close at 3,979.87.

The rally on Wall Street came as traders looked to pick up stocks at reduced levels following recent weakness, which dragged the major averages down to their lowest levels in over a month; traders may now feel that interest rate concerns have been priced into the markets.

The rebound also came amid a pullback by treasury yields, with the yield on the benchmark ten-year note receding after reaching a nearly three-month high on Tuesday.

Stocks saw further upside following the release of the Federal Reserve's Beige Book, which said economic activity in the U.S. has been essentially unchanged since early July. Also, the Commerce Department said the U.S. trade deficit narrowed significantly in July.

Crude oil prices fell sharply on Wednesday on concerns about the outlook for energy demand amid rising fears of a global recession. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for October ended lower by $4.94 or 5.7 percent at $81.94 a barrel, the lowest settlement since January 11.