Hong Kong Shares Tipped To Open In The Green

(RTTNews) - The Hong Kong stock market turned lower again on Friday, one day after ending the four-day losing streak in which it had surrendered almost 1,250 points or 4.7 percent. The Hang Seng Index now rests just above the 25,220-point plateau although it's expected to move back to the upside again on Monday.

The global forecast for the Asian markets is upbeat on an improved 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 sharply lower on Friday with damage across the board, especially among the technology shares and properties.

For the day, the index plunged 615.55 points or 2.38 percent to finish at 25,220.02 after trading between 25,178.63 and 25,483.67.

Among the actives, Alibaba Group plunged 4.65 percent, while Alibaba Health Info plummeted 4.46 percent, ANTA Sports shed 1.38 percent, China Life Insurance tumbled 3.79 percent, China Mengniu Dairy lost 1.36 percent, China Resources Land and Haier Smart Home both slipped 0.93 percent, CITIC sank 1.80 percent, CNOOC dropped 1.91 percent, CSPC Pharmaceutical tanked 4.40 percent, Galaxy Entertainment stumbled 4.05 percent, Hang Lung Properties surrendered 4.07 percent, Henderson Land fell 1.35 percent, Hong Kong & China Gas dipped 1.10 percent, Industrial and Commercial Bank of China skidded 1.99 percent, JD.com contracted 2.82 percent, Lenovo was down 0.41 percent, Li Auto weakened 2.00 percent, Li Ning slumped 2.79 percent, Meituan declined 2.99 percent, New World Development cratered 5.21 percent, Nongfu Spring slid 1.28 percent, Techtronic Industries retreated 3.39 percent, Xiaomi Corporation climbed 1.01 percent and WuXi Biologics crashed 5.09 percent.

The lead from Wall Street is positive as the major averages opened flat on Friday but rallied in the afternoon, finishing near daily highs.

The Dow jumped 493.15 points or 1.08 percent to finish at 46,245.41, while the NASDAQ rallied 195.03 points or 0.88 percent to end at 22,273.08 and the S&P 500 gained 64.23 points or 0.98 percent to close at 6,602.99.

For the week, the NASDAQ plunged 2.7 percent, the S&P 500 tumbled 2.0 percent and the Dow slumped 1.9 percent.

The strength that emerged on Wall Street reflected renewed optimism about the Federal Reserve lowering interest rates at its next monetary policy meeting in December following dovish remarks by New York Federal Reserve President John Williams.

Potentially adding to the optimism about the outlook for interest rates, the University of Michigan released a report showing decreases by both year-ahead inflation and long-run inflation expectations in November.

Crude oil prices slumped Friday on oversupply concerns after Ukraine expressed support for the U.S. peace plan to stop the Russia-Ukraine war. West Texas Intermediate crude for January delivery was down by $0.86 or 1.46 percent at $58.14 per barrel.