Hong Kong Market May Cut Into Thursday's Losses

(RTTNews) - The Hong Kong stock market has finished lower in two of three trading days since the end of the two-day winning streak in which it had added more than 80 points or 0.5 percent. The Hang Seng Index now sits just beneath the 16,230-point plateau although it's expected to rebound again on Friday.

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

The Hang Seng finished sharply lower on Thursday following losses from the financial shares and technology stocks and a mixed picture from the property sector.

For the day, the index tumbled 208.31 points or 1.27 percent to finish at 16,229.78 after trading between 16,136.12 and 16,512.41.

Among the actives, Alibaba Group dropped 1.60 percent, while Alibaba Health Info declined 2.69 percent, ANTA Sports tumbled 3.38 percent, China Life Insurance shed 0.85 percent, China Mengniu Dairy retreated 3.09 percent, China Resources Land slumped 2.01 percent, CITIC fell 0.63 percent, CK Infrastructure perked 0.22 percent, CNOOC soared 2.75 percent, Country Garden tanked 3.70 percent, CSPC Pharmaceutical lost 0.68 percent, Galaxy Entertainment added 0.25 percent, Hang Lung Properties stumbled 2.48 percent, Henderson Land rose 0.23 percent, Hong Kong & China Gas sank 1.00 percent, JD.com surged 6.00 percent, Lenovo slid 0.52 percent, Li Ning surrendered 3.60 percent, Meituan plunged 3.72 percent, New World Development eased 0.23 percent, Techtronic Industries rallied 1.52 percent, Xiaomi Corporation skidded 1.84 percent, WuXi Biologics plummeted 21.47 percent and Industrial and Commercial Bank of China and Haier Smart Home were unchanged.

The lead from Wall Street is positive as the major averages opened higher on Thursday and remained solidly in the green throughout the session, with the S&P and NASDAQ hitting fresh closing highs.

The Dow climbed130.30 points or 0.34 percent to finish at 38,791.35, while the NASDAQ surged 2.41.83 points or 1.51 percent to end at 16,273.38 and the S&P 500 rallied 52.60 points or 1.03 percent to close at 5,157.36.

The extended rebound on Wall Street came on optimism about the outlook for interest rates after Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell told Congress on Thursday that rate cuts "can and will" begin this year.

Adding to the optimism about interest rates, the European Central Bank lowered its annual inflation forecast while announcing its widely expected decision to leave rates unchanged.

Potentially adding to the buying interest on Wall Street, treasury yields saw further downside on the day, with the ten-year yield falling to its lowest closing level in a month.

Oil prices drifted lower on Thursday amid some concerns about the outlook for demand, although the downside was limited by a weaker greenback. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for April fell $0.20 or 0.3 percent at $78.93 a barrel.