Hong Kong Shares Expected To Open In The Red

(RTTNews) - The Hong Kong stock market on Thursday ended the two-day winning streak in which it had surged more than 1,140 points or 8 percent. The Hang Seng Index now sits just beneath the 15,340-point plateau and it's likely to open under pressure again on Friday.

The global forecast for the Asian markets is negative on concerns over the outlook for interest rates. The European markets were mixed and the U.S. bourses were down and the Asian markets figure to split the difference.

The Hang Seng finished sharply lower on Thursday with profit taking across the board, especially among the technology stocks and properties.

For the day, the index plummeted 487.68 points or 3.08 percent to finish at 15,339.49 after trading between 15,301.67 and 15,623.18.

Among the actives, Alibaba Group plunged 6.53 percent, while Alibaba Health Info lost 1.56 percent, ANTA Sports tanked 6.25 percent, China Life Insurance stumbled 2.88 percent, China Mengniu Dairy fell 0.70 percent, China Petroleum and Chemical (Sinopec) dipped 0.31 percent, China Resources Land tumbled 4.79 percent, CITIC dropped 2.22 percent, CNOOC shed 1.62 percent, Country Garden jumped 1.46 percent, CSPC Pharmaceutical plummeted 9.68 percent, Galaxy Entertainment skidded 2.52 percent, Hang Lung Properties surged 4.17 percent, Henderson Land eased 0.20 percent, Hong Kong & China Gas retreated 2.98 percent, Industrial and Commercial Bank of China slumped 2.87 percent, JD.com tanked 5.63 percent, Lenovo slid 0.67 percent, Li Ning plunged 6.98 percent, Longfor plummeted 8.24 percent, Meituan surrendered 3.54 percent, New World Development tumbled 4.69 percent, Techtronic Industries declined 3.41 percent, Xiaomi Corporation weakened 2.56 percent and WuXi Biologics sank 1.63 percent.

The lead from Wall Street is soft as the major averages opened lower on Thursday and remained in the red throughout the trading day.

The Dow dropped 146.51 points or 0.46 percent to finish at 32,001.25, while the NASDAQ tumbled 181.86 points or 1.73 percent to close at 10,342.94 and the S&P 500 lost 39.80 points or 1.06 percent to end at 3,719.89.

The weakness on Wall Street came as traders continued to digest the fourth straight 75-basis point interest rate hike by the Federal Reserve, and comments from the central bank Chair Jerome Powell that signaled more interest rate hikes in the coming months.

Investors also digested the latest batch of economic data and looked ahead to the crucial non-farm payroll data, due on Friday.

The Commerce Department said the U.S. trade gap widened to a three-month high in September, while the Labor Department said jobless claims declined last week and the Commerce Department said new orders for U.S. manufactured goods rose more than expected.

Crude oil prices settled sharply lower Thursday amid concerns about the outlook for energy demand. The dollar's sharp uptick following hawkish comments from the Federal Reserve also weighed on crude oil prices. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for December sank $1.83 or 2 percent at $88.17 a barrel.