Hong Kong Shares May Halt Losing Streak

(RTTNews) - The Hong Kong stock market has moved lower in three straight sessions, shedding almost 260 points or 1.6 percent along the way. The Hang Seng Index now sits just above the 16,200-point plateau although it's due for support on Tuesday.

The global forecast for the Asian markets suggests mild upside on optimism for the outlook for interest rates. The European markets were mixed and the U.S. bourses were up and the Asian markets figure to follow the latter lead.

The Hang Seng finished modestly lower on Monday as losses from the technology and finance sectors were offset by gains among the properties.

For the day, the index slumped 132.88 points or 0.81 percent to finish at 16,201.49 after trading between 15,972.31 and 16,276.88.

Among the actives, Alibaba Group tumbled 2.41 percent, while ANTA Sports dropped 1.02 percent, China Life Insurance retreated 2.31 percent, China Resources Land skidded 1.17 percent, CITIC sank 0.98 percent, CNOOC slumped 1.28 percent, Country Garden shed 0.92 percent, CSPC Pharmaceutical lost 0.60 percent, ENN Energy advanced 0.80 percent, Galaxy Entertainment declined 1.79 percent, Hang Lung Properties climbed 1.15 percent, Henderson Land jumped 1.65 percent, Hong Kong & China Gas gained 0.37 percent, Industrial and Commercial Bank of China fell 0.55 percent, JD.com plunged 6.25 percent, Lenovo surged 3.14 percent, Li Ning plummeted 14.29 percent, Meituan tanked 3.64 percent, New World Development added 0.54 percent, Techtronic Industries rallied 1.35 percent, Xiaomi Corporation slid 0.41 percent, WuXi Biologics surrendered 2.56 percent and China Mengniu Dairy, Alibaba Health Info and CK Infrastructure were unchanged.

The lead from Wall Street is modestly positive as the major averages opened mixed on Monday but all turned higher to finish with mild gains.

The Dow jumped 157.06 points or 0.43 percent to finish at 36,404.93, while the NASDAQ added 28.51 points or 0.20 percent to close at 14,432.49 and the S&P 500 rose 18.07 points or 0.39 percent to end at 4,622.44.

Overall trading activity was somewhat subdued ahead of the Federal Reserve's monetary policy announcement on Wednesday, although stocks continued to benefit from the optimism about the outlook for interest rates.

Optimism the Fed could pivot to cutting interest rates as soon as March 2024 has contributed to recent strength on Wall Street, although last Friday's strong than expected jobs data has led to speculation the Fed could wait until May to begin lowering rates.

Crude oil futures settled marginally higher on Monday due to continued uncertainty about the outlook for energy demand. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures ended with a small gain of $0.09 or 0.13 percent at $71.32 a barrel.