Hong Kong Shares May Extend Friday's Losses

(RTTNews) - The Hong Kong stock market on Friday halted the seven-day winning streak in which it had surged more than 1,470 points or 5.5 percent. The Hang Seng Index now sits just beneath the 27,390-point plateau and it may see additional consolidation again on Monday.

The global forecast for the Asian markets is murky, with any upside likely limited by inflation concerns and profit taking among oil stocks. The European markets were up and the U.S. bourses were down and the Asian markets figure to split the difference.

The Hang Seng finished sharply lower on Friday with profit taking across the board, especially among the pharmaceutical, technology and energy sectors.

For the day, the index plunged 580.99 points or 2.08 percent to finish at 27,387.11 after trading between 27,384.02 and 27,887.24.

Among the actives, Alibaba Group and WuXi Biologics both declined 2.37 percent, while Alibaba Health Info skidded 2.25 percent, ANTA Sports tanked 3.04 percent, China Life Insurance lost 1.80 percent, China Mengniu Dairy stumbled 2.74 percent, China Resources Land slipped 1.60 percent, CITIC plummeted 3.25 percent, CNOOC retreated 2.40 percent, CSPC Pharmaceutical cratered 10.20 percent, Galaxy Entertainment fell 1.73 percent, Haier Smart Home slid 1.53 percent, Hang Lung Properties gained 0.96 percent, Henderson Land dropped 1.95 percent, Hong Kong & China Gas eased 0.27 percent, Industrial and Commercial Bank of China contracted 2.26 percent, JD.com sank 1.92 percent, Lenovo shed 1.88 percent, Li Auto tumbled 2.58 percent, Li Ning surrendered 2.57 percent, Meituan dipped 1.42 percent, New World Development surged 2.25 percent, Nongfu Spring crashed 3.70 percent, Techtronic Industries rose 0.28 percent and Xiaomi Corporation plunged 3.06 percent.

The lead from Wall Street is soft as the major averages opened lower on Friday and remained under water throughout the trading day.

The Dow dropped 179.09 points or 0.36 percent to finish at 48,892.47, while the NASDAQ sank 223.30 points or 0.94 percent to end at 23,461.82 and the S&P 500 lost 29.98 points or 0.43 percent to close at 6,939.03.

For the week, the S&P rose 0.3 percent, the NASDAQ dipped 0.2 percent and the Dow fell 0.4 percent.

The weakness on Wall Street reflected renewed concerns about inflation after the Labor Department reported that producer prices increased by much more than expected in December.

New tariff threats from President Donald Trump may also have contributed to the negative sentiment, as well as news that Trump announced his intent to nominate former Federal Reserve Governor Kevin Warsh to succeed Fed Chair Jerome Powell.

Crude oil prices slid on Friday as the U.S. dollar index moved higher, while the possibility of diplomatic intervention in the U.S.-Iran conflict also weighed on prices. West Texas Intermediate crude for March delivery was down $0.22 or 0.34 percent at $65.20 per barrel.