Hong Kong Shares Tipped To Open In The Green

(RTTNews) - The Hong Kong stock market on Friday snapped the two-day slide in which it had dropped almost 200 points or 1 percent. The Hang Seng Index now sits just above the 19,865-point plateau and it may extend its gains on Monday.

The global forecast for the Asian markets is flat to higher on optimism over the outlook for interest rates. The European and U.S. markets were mixed and fairly flat on Friday and the Asian bourses are expected to follow that lead.

The Hang Seng finished sharply higher on Friday with profit taking across the board, especially among the technology companies.

For the day, the index rallied 305.45 points or 1.56 percent to finish at 19,865.85 after trading between 19,566.29 and 19,934.72.

Among the actives, Alibaba Group rallied 2.44 percent, while Alibaba Health Info jumped 1.98 percent, ANTA Sports soared 3.11 percent, China Life Insurance spiked 2.67 percent, China Mengniu Dairy improved 0.60 percent, China Resources Land and Industrial and Commercial Bank of China both collected 1.50 percent, CITIC added 0.90 percent, CNOOC perked 0.45 percent, CSPC Pharmaceutical strengthened 1.63 percent, Galaxy Entertainment gathered 0.71 percent, Haier Smart Home surged 3.40 percent, Hang Lung Properties increased 0.47 percent, Henderson Land climbed 1.21 percent, Hong Kong & China Gas rose 0.85 percent, JD.com spiked 3.09 percent, Lenovo gained 0.87 percent, Li Auto rallied 2.32 percent, Li Ning soared 3.36 percent, Meituan jumped 2.01 percent, New World Development strengthened 1.73 percent, Nongfu Spring advanced 1.14 percent, Techtronic Industries was up 0.18 percent, Xiaomi Corporation climbed 1.53 percent and WuXi Biologics surged 5.47 percent.

The lead from Wall Street is inconsistent as the major averages opened higher on Friday, although the Dow was unable to hold its gains and the markets ended mixed.

The Dow slumped 123.18 points or 0.28 percent to finish at 44,642.52, while the NASDAQ rallied 159.07 points or 0.81 percent to close at 19,859.77 and the S&P 500 slipped 15.16 points or 0.25 percent to end at 6,090.27.

The Dow continued to clump amid a continued decline by shares of UnitedHealth (UNH) after that company's CEO Brian Thompson was gunned down last week.

But the NASDAQ and the S&P continued to benefit from a positive reaction to Friday's closely watched Labor Department report showing employment in the U.S. surged more than expected in November.

However, the report said the unemployment rate crept up to 4.2 percent in November from 4.1 percent in October, increasing confidence the Federal Reserve will lower interest rates by another 25 basis points later this month.

Oil prices fell on Friday, weighed down by prospects of excess supply in the market. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for January shed $1.10 or 1.61 percent at $67.20 a barrel. WTI crude futures fell nearly 1 percent in the week.