Hong Kong Shares May Stop The Bleeding On Friday

(RTTNews) - The Hong Kong stock market has finished lower in three straight sessions, tumbling almost 830 points or 3.3 percent along the way. The Hang Seng Index now rests just beneath the 25,000-point plateau although it may find traction on Friday.

The global forecast for the Asian markets suggests little movement ahead of key U.S. inflation data later today. The European markets were mixed and flat and the U.S. bourses were slightly higher and the Asian markets figure to split the difference.

The Hang Seng finished modestly lower on Thursday following losses from the technology stocks and mixed performances from the property sector.

For the day, the index stumbled 202.94 points or 0.81 percent to finish at 24,998.82 after trading between 24,808.78 and 25,093.65.

Among the actives, Alibaba Group surrendered 4.69 percent, while Alibaba Health Info sank 0.74 percent, ANTA Sports plunged 5.91 percent, China Life Insurance added 0.17 percent, China Mengniu Dairy declined 2.22 percent, China Resources Land improved 0.26 percent, CITIC jumped 1.15 percent, CNOOC surged 4.08 percent, CSPC Pharmaceutical tumbled 2.88 percent, Galaxy Entertainment fell 0.10 percent, Haier Smart Home dropped 0.79 percent, Hang Lung Properties climbed 1.15 percent, Henderson Land shed 0.22 percent, Hong Kong & China Gas advanced 0.57 percent, Industrial and Commercial Bank of China collected 0.35 percent, JD.com tanked 5.03 percent, Lenovo rallied 2.45 percent, Li Auto stumbled 3.56 percent, Li Ning skidded 1.00 percent, Meituan plummeted 12.55 percent, Nongfu Spring contracted 1.47 percent, Techtronic Industries slumped 1.04 percent, Xiaomi Corporation lost 0.19 percent, WuXi Biologics retreated 2.27 percent and New World Development was unchanged.

The lead from Wall Street suggests mild upside as the major averages opened mixed on Thursday but tracked steadily higher as the day progressed, ending near session highs.

The Dow gained 71.67 points or 0.16 percent to finish at 45,636.90, while the NASDAQ climbed 115.02 points or 0.53 percent to end at 21,705.16 and the S&P 500 rose 20.46 points or 0.32 percent to close at 6,501.86.

The strength that emerged on Wall Street came as traders digested highly anticipated earnings news from Nvidia (NVDA), with the AI darling and market leader reporting reported second quarter results that largely exceeded expectations but data center sales that came in below estimates.

Investors were also looking ahead to the release of the Commerce Department's report later today on personal income and spending in July, which includes the Federal Reserve's preferred readings on consumer price inflation.

In economic news, the Commerce Department said the U.S. economy grew more than estimated in the second quarter of 2025. Also, the Labor Department noted a modest decrease by first-time claims for U.S. unemployment benefits last week.

Crude oil prices moved higher on Thursday following a drop in U.S. crude inventories a day earlier. West Texas Intermediate crude for October delivery was up $0.42 or 0.65 percent at $64.57 per barrel.