Hong Kong Shares May Open Under Water On Tuesday

(RTTNews) - The Hong Kong stock market has finished higher in two straight sessions, advancing more than 350 points or 2.1 percent along the way. The Hang Seng Index now sits just beneath the 16,590-point plateau although investors may cash in on Tuesday.

The global forecast for the Asian markets is mixed to lower ahead of inflation data that may affect the outlook for interest rates. The European and U.S. markets were mixed and little changed and the Asian bourses figure to follow suit. The Hang Seng finished sharply higher on Monday following gains from the financial shares, property stocks and technology companies. For the day, the index jumped 234.18 points or 1.43 percent to finish at 16,587.57 after trading between 16,416.17 and 16,625.64.

Among the actives, Alibaba Group advanced 2.18 percent, while Alibaba Health Info strengthened 2.78 percent, ANTA Sports gained 1.27 percent, China Life Insurance rose 1.16 percent, China Mengniu Dairy rallied 3.52 percent, China Resources Land increased 1.59 percent, CITIC sank 0.38 percent, CNOOC plummeted 3.56 percent, Country Garden dropped 0.90 percent, CSPC Pharmaceutical gathered 1.01 percent, Galaxy Entertainment perked 0.90 percent, Hang Lung Properties jumped 3.25 percent, Henderson Land improved 2.25 percent, Hong Kong & China Gas was up 0.67 percent, Industrial and Commercial Bank of China collected 0.25 percent, JD.com skyrocketed 6.43 percent, Lenovo tumbled 2.40 percent, Li Ning surged 6.40 percent, Meituan accelerated 5.31 percent, New World Development spiked 4.59 percent, Techtronic Industries soared 5.46 percent, Xiaomi Corporation climbed 2.45 percent and WuXi Biologics added 1.49 percent.

The lead from Wall Street is uninspired as the major averages opened lower on Monday and largely stayed that way, although the Dow snuck barely above the line late in the day to finish slightly higher.

The Dow added 46.97 points or 0.12 percent to finish at 38,769.66, while the NASDAQ slumped 65.84 points or 0.41 percent to close at 16,019.27 and the S&P 500 dipped 5.75 points or 0.11 percent to end at 5,117.94.

The weakness on Wall Street came amid uncertainty about the outlook for interest rates ahead of the release of key inflation data later today, when the Labor Department is scheduled to release its closely watched report on consumer price inflation for February.

The inflation data could have a significant impact on the outlook for interest rates, with Federal Reserve officials saying they need "greater confidence" that inflation is slowing before they consider cutting rates.

While the Fed is widely expected to leave rates unchanged at its monetary policy meeting next week, the data could impact expectations regarding when the central bank will eventually lower rates.

Oil futures settled lower on Monday amid concerns about the outlook for demand from China and on caution ahead key U.S. consumer price inflation data. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for April ended down $0.08 or 0.1 percent at $77.93 a barrel, settling lower for the third consecutive session.