Hong Kong Shares May Find Traction On Wednesday

(RTTNews) - Ahead of Tuesday's holiday for the Special Administrative Region Establishment Day, the Hong Kong stock market had tracked lower in three straight sessions, dropping more than 400 points or 1.7 percent along the way. The Hang Seng Index now sits just above the 24,070-point plateau although it may stop the bleeding on Wednesday.

The global forecast for the Asian markets is mixed to lower, with support from the oil companies offsetting weakness among the technology shares. The European and U.S. markets were mixed and the Asian bourses figure to follow that lead.

The Hang Seng finished modestly lower on Monday following losses from the financial shares and property stocks, while the technology companies were mixed.

For the day, the index tumbled 211.87 points or 0.87 percent to finish at 24,072.28 after trading between 24,064.26 and 24,274.91.

Among the actives, Alibaba Group stumbled 2.05 percent, while Alibaba Health Info surrendered 2.47 percent, ANTA Sports advanced 0.27 percent, China Life Insurance lost 0.63 percent, China Mengniu Dairy slumped 0.98 percent, China Resources Land dipped 0.37 percent, CITIC tanked 2.53 percent, CNOOC declined 1.12 percent, CSPC Pharmaceutical slid 0.39 percent, Galaxy Entertainment rose 0.14 percent, Haier Smart Home slipped 0.22 percent, Hang Lung Properties sank 0.79 percent, Henderson Land fell 0.54 percent, Hong Kong & China Gas skidded 0.90 percent, Industrial and Commercial Bank of China retreated 1.58 percent, JD.com tumbled 1.84 percent, Lenovo eased 0.11 percent, Li Auto plummeted 3.25 percent, Li Ning climbed 1.44 percent, Meituan plunged 3.17 percent, New World Development was down 0.18 percent, Nongfu Spring shed 0.74 percent, Techtronic Industries dropped 0.80 percent, Xiaomi Corporation rallied 1.70 percent, WuXi Biologics jumped 1.99 percent and ENN Energy Holdings was unchanged.

The lead from Wall Street provides little clarity as the major averages opened mixed on Tuesday and finished in the same fashion.

The Dow rallied 400.17 points or 0.91 percent to finish at 44,494.94, while the NASDAQ tumbled 166.85 points or 0.82 percent to end at 20,202.89 and the S&P 500 slipped 6.94 points or 0.11 percent to close at 6,198.01.

The mixed performance on Wall Street came following the strong performance seen in recent sessions, which saw the NASDAQ and the S&P 500 reach new record highs.

Traders also kept an eye on developments in Washington, D.C., where the Senate narrowly voted to approve President Donald Trump's massive tax cuts and spending bill.

On the U.S. economic front, the Institute for Supply Management noted a modest increase by its reading on U.S. manufacturing activity in June. Also, the Labor Department saw an unexpected increase by job openings in the U.S. in May.

Crude oil rose modestly on Tuesday as attention shifts to the OPEC cartel's supposed plans to increase output even as the Middle East remains uneventful. West Texas Intermediate crude for August delivery traded at $65.40 per barrel, up $0.29 or 0.45 percent.

Closer to home, Hong Kong will see May numbers for retail sales later today; in April, sales slumped 2.3 percent on year.