Hong Kong Shares May Stop The Bleeding On Monday

(RTTNews) - The Hong Kong stock market has finished lower in four straight sessions, sinking more than 750 points or 4.1 percent along the way. The Hang Seng Index now sits just above the 18,075-point plateau although it's likely to halt its slide on Monday.

The global forecast for the Asian markets is cautiously optimistic on an improved outlook for interest rates. The European and U.S. markets were mostly higher and the Asian bourses are likely to follow that lead.

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

For the day, the index sank 150.59 points or 0.83 percent to finish at 18,079.61 after trading between 18,077.39 and 18,551.18.

Among the actives, Alibaba Group and Galaxy Entertainment both slumped 1.83 percent, while Alibaba Health Info plummeted 8.64 percent, ANTA Sports eased 0.42 percent, China Life Insurance and Nongfu Spring both skidded 1.42 percent, China Mengniu Dairy surrendered 3.23 percent, China Resources Land declined 2.41 percent, CITIC lost 1.00 percent, CNOOC rallied 2.20 percent, Country Garden tanked 3.40 percent, CSPC Pharmaceutical fell 0.90 percent, Hang Lung Properties stumbled 1.93 percent, Henderson Land sank 1.22 percent, Hong Kong & China Gas slid 0.82 percent, Industrial and Commercial Bank of China shed 1.12 percent, JD.com added 0.44 percent, Lenovo retreated 2.60 percent, Li Ning weakened 1.69 percent, Meituan plunged 3.49 percent, New World Development tumbled 2.76 percent, Techtronic Industries rose 0.31 percent, Xiaomi Corporation dropped 1.24 percent and WuXi Biologics was down 0.54 percent.

The lead from Wall Street is fairly positive as the major averages opened higher on Friday, slumped midday but rallied to finish mixed.

The Dow surged 574.82 points or 1.51 percent to finish at 38,686.32, while the NASDAQ dipped 2.08 points or 0.01 percent to close at 16,735.02 and the S&P 500 gained 42.03 points or 0.80 percent to end at 5,277.51.

For the week, the S&P 500 fell 0.5 percent and the Dow and the NASDAQ slumped by 1.0 percent and 1.1 percent, respectively - although the major averages all posted strong gains for the month of May.

The mostly higher close on Wall Street followed the release of a highly anticipated Commerce Department data showing consumer prices in the U.S. increased in line with estimates in April, while core consumer prices edged up slightly less than expected.

The readings on inflation, which are said to be preferred by the Federal Reserve, generated optimism that investors may see a rate cut in the coming months.

Oil prices fell on Friday, extending losses to a third straight day amid concerns about the outlook for demand - although optimism over the extension of OPEC production cuts limited the downside. West Texas Intermediate crude oil futures for July slipped $0.92 at $76.99 a barrel.