Hong Kong Shares Inherit Flat Lead For Wednesday

(RTTNews) - The Hong Kong stock market on Tuesday halted the two-day losing streak in which it had dropped more than 430 points or 3 percent. The Hang Seng Index now rests just above the 15,350-point plateau and it's likely to see little movement on Wednesday.

The global forecast for the Asian markets is erratic and seemingly at the mercy of quarterly earnings, which have varied greatly so far this earnings season. The European markets were down and the U.S. bourses were mixed and the Asian markets figure to follow the latter lead.

The Hang Seng finished sharply higher on Tuesday following bargain hunting among the properties, industrials and technology stocks.

For the day, the index surged 392.80 points or 2.63 percent to finish at 15,353.98 after trading between 14,994.37 and 15,516.80.

Among the actives, Alibaba Group and China Life Insurance both spiked 3.36 percent, while Alibaba Health Info was up 4.33 percent, ANTA Sports accelerated 4.21 percent, China Mengniu Dairy jumped 2.94 percent, China Resources Land surged 8.05 percent, CITIC rallied 2.95 percent, CNOOC gathered 1.22 percent, Country Garden soared 5.86 percent, CSPC Pharmaceutical advanced 1.76 percent, Galaxy Entertainment perked 0.52 percent, Hang Lung Properties climbed 2.42 percent, Henderson Land added 1.48 percent, Hong Kong & China Gas sank 0.73 percent, Industrial and Commercial Bank of China rallied 1.98 percent, JD.com spiked 4.67 percent, Lenovo gained 1.43 percent, Li Ning strengthened 2.91 percent, Meituan rose 1.38 percent, New World Development improved 1.60 percent, Techtronic Industries surged 7.16 percent, Xiaomi Corporation advanced 1.85 percent and WuXi Biologics soared 5.37 percent.

The lead from Wall Street provides little clarity as the major averages opened mixed on Tuesday and closed the same way.

The Dow sank 96.36 points or 0.25 percent to finish at 37,905.45, while the NASDAQ added 65.66 points or 0.43 percent to close at 15,425.94 and the S&P 500 rose 14.17 points or 0.29 percent to end at a fresh record of 4,864.60.

The choppy trading on Wall Street reflected a mixed reaction to the latest earnings news from several big-name companies.

The Dow pulled back off Monday's record closing high amid a steep drop by shares of 3M (MMM), which offered disappointing guidance. Healthcare giant Johnson & Johnson (JNJ) also slumped despite reporting better than expected results.

Meanwhile, shares of telecom giant Verizon (VZ) and consumer products giant Procter & Gamble (PG) surged after reporting better than expected earnings news.

Crude oil futures eased Tuesday amid uncertainty about the outlook for global oil demand and after Libya restarted production at the Sharara oilfield, which was shut for two weeks due to protests. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for March fell $0.39 or 0.5 percent at $74.37 a barrel.