Hong Kong Bourse Tipped To Open In The Green

(RTTNews) - The Hong Kong stock market on Friday ended the two-day slide in which it had stumbled almost 280 points or 1.7 percent. The Hang Seng Index now sits just beneath the 16,590-point plateau and it may extend its gains on Monday.

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

The Hang Seng finished modestly higher on Friday following mixed performances from the financials, technology stocks and properties.

For the day, the index gained 78.04 points or 0.47 percent to finish at 16,589.44 after trading between 16,321.12 and 16,651.67.

Among the actives, Alibaba Group rose 0.21 percent, while Alibaba Health Info advanced 0.58 percent, ANTA Sports skidded 0.78 percent, China Life Insurance and China Mengniu Dairy both eased 0.10 percent, China Resources Land retreated 1.04 percent, CITIC dropped 0.63 percent, CNOOC added 0.50 percent, Country Garden fell 0.17 percent, CSPC Pharmaceutical sank 0.33 percent, Galaxy Entertainment tanked 1.75 percent, Haier Smart Home rallied 1.67 percent, Hang Lung Properties gained 0.24 percent, Henderson Land slumped 0.88 percent, Industrial and Commercial Bank of China collected 0.25 percent, JD.com spiked 1.68 percent, Lenovo surged 4.84 percent, Li Ning soared 2.72 percent, Meituan skyrocketed 10.78 percent, New World Development plummeted 6.79 percent, Techtronic Industries plunged 2.60 percent, Xiaomi Corporation jumped 0.76 percent, WuXi Biologics tumbled 1.26 percent and Hong Kong & China Gas and CLP Holdings were unchanged.

The lead from Wall Street is positive as the major averages opened flat on Friday but accelerated as the day progressed, sending the NASDAQ and S&P to record closing highs.

The Dow advanced 90.98 points or 0.23 percent to finish at 39,087.38, while the NASDAQ jumped 183.04 points or 1.14 percent to close at 16,274.94 and the S&P 500 rallied 40.81 points or 0.80 percent to end at 5,137.08. For the week, the NASDAQ shot up 1.7 percent and the S&P 500 rose 1.0 percent, but the Dow eased 0.1 percent.

The surge by the NASDAQ reflected substantial strength among computer hardware stocks following upbeat results from Dell (DELL), with the NYSE Arca Computer Hardware Index soaring to a record closing high.

In economic news, the Institute for Supply Management said manufacturing activity in the U.S. unexpectedly contracted at an accelerated rate in February. Also, the University of Michigan released revised data showing consumer sentiment unexpectedly deteriorated in February.

The soft data contributed to a downturn by treasury yields, which added to optimism about the Federal Reserve eventually cutting interest rates.

Oil prices rose to a four-month high on Friday, buoyed by reports that oil demand surged to a four-year high in 2023 and will hold near that level again this year. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for April spiked $1.71 or 2.2 percent at $79.97 a barrel, the highest close since November 6, 2023.