Hong Kong Shares May Be Stuck In Neutral On Tuesday

(RTTNews) - The Hong Kong stock market has moved higher in two straight sessions, improving more than 825 points or 3.4 percent along the way. The Hang Seng Index now rests just beneath the 25,830-point plateau although it may open under pressure on Tuesday. The global forecast for the Asian markets is soft, with profit-taking likely on the menu. The European markets were mixed and the U.S. bourses were down and the Asian markets are also expected to open under water.

The Hang Seng finished sharply higher on Monday following gains from the property stocks and technology companies. For the day, the index spiked 490.77 points or 1.94 percent to finish at 25,829.91 after trading between 25,590.62 and 25,918.86. Among the actives, Alibaba Group surged 5.51 percent, while Alibaba Health Info soared 3.63 percent, ANTA Sports jumped 1.85 percent, China Life Insurance eased 0.16 percent, China Mengniu Dairy climbed 1.22 percent, China Resources Land increased 0.95 percent, CITIC gained 0.78 percent, CNOOC rose 0.53 percent, CSPC Pharmaceutical spiked 3.24 percent, Galaxy Entertainment skyrocketed 5.59 percent, Haier Smart Home rallied 2.20 percent, Hang Lung Properties collected 0.12 percent, Henderson Land advanced 1.18 percent, Hong Kong & China Gas added 0.86 percent, Industrial and Commercial Bank of China fell 0.34 percent, JD.com soared 4.28 percent, Lenovo accelerated 4.10 percent, Li Auto strengthened 2.38 percent, Li Ning jumped 2.94 percent, Meituan rallied 3.29 percent, New World Development surged 5.10 percent, Nongfu Spring expanded 1.21 percent, Techtronic Industries spiked 4.27 percent, Xiaomi Corporation climbed 1.81 percent, WuXi Biologics improved 1.09 percent and CKI Holdings was unchanged.

The lead from Wall Street is weak as the major averages opened lower on Monday and spent most of the day under water, finishing near daily lows.

The Dow stumbled 349.27 points or 0.77 percent to finish at 45,282.47, while the NASDAQ sank 47.24 points or 0.22 percent to close at 21,449.29 and the S&P 500 lost 27.59 points or 0.43 percent to end at 6,439.32.

Profit taking contributed to the initial weakness on Wall Street, as some traders looked to cash in on the strong gains posted last Friday, which lifted the Dow to a new record closing high.

The rally seen during last Friday's session came as remarks from Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell seemed to indicate the central bank is likely to lower interest rates next month.

On the U.S. economic front, the Commerce Department released a repot this morning showing new home sales in the U.S. decreased from an upwardly revised level in July.

Crude oil jumped on Monday, on concerns that Western sanctions on Russian oil exports may continue longer than anticipated. West Texas Intermediate crude for October delivery was up $1.20 or 1.89 percent at $64.86 per barrel.

Closer to home, Hong Kong will see July figures for imports, exports and trade balance later today. In June, imports were up 11.1 percent on year and exports rose an annual 11.9 percent for a trade deficit of HKD58.9 billion.