Hong Kong Shares Tipped To Open In The Green

(RTTNews) - The Hong Kong stock market on Friday snapped the three-day slide in which it had slumped almost 600 points or 2.4 percent. The Hang Seng Index now sits just above the 25,180-point plateau and it's looking at additional support on Monday.

The global forecast for the Asian markets is cautiously optimistic on easing oil prices and hopes for an end to the U.S.-Iran conflict. The European markets were mixed and the U.S. bourses were up and the Asian markets figure to split the difference.

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

For the day, the index gained 176.19 points or 0.70 percent to finish at 25,182.39 after trading between 25,055.80 and 25,313.33.

Among the actives, AIA and China Construction Bank both perked 0.12 percent, while Alibaba Group dropped 0.74 percent, Baidu soared 3.50 percent, Bank of China jumped 1.56 percent, BOC Hong Kong rallied 1.65 percent, China Life Insurance vaulted 1.12 percent, China Merchants Bank accelerated 2.57 percent, China Mobile rose 0.35 percent, China Petroleum & Chemical shed 0.46 percent, China Shenhua Energy spiked 2.92 percent, CITIC and Zijin Mining both lost 0.30 percent, CNOOC advanced 0.92 percent, Hong Kong Exchange improved 0.91 percent, HSBC eased 0.14 percent, Industrial and Commercial Bank of China collected 0.76 percent, JD.com sank 0.61 percent, Lenovo Group skyrocketed 21.95 percent, Meituan gathered 0.20 percent, NetEase added 0.73 percent, Nongfu Spring increased 0.75 percent, PetroChina expanded 1.02 percent, Ping An Insurance strengthened 1.35 percent, Semiconductor Manufacturing plummeted 7.54 percent, Sun Hung Kai Properties climbed 1.00 percent, Tencent Holdings gained 0.52 percent, Xiaomi Corporation tumbled 1.82 percent and WuXi AppTec surged 3.82 percent.

The lead from Wall Street is mildly positive as the major averages opened higher on Friday and remained largely in the green throughout the trading day, ending at fresh record closing highs.

The Dow jumped 363.46 points or 0.72 percent to finish at 51,032.46, while the NASDAQ added 55.12 points or 0.20 percent to end at 26,972.62 and the S&P 500 rose 16.43 points or 0.22 percent to end at 7,580.06.

For the holiday-shortened week, the NASDAQ surged 2.4 percent, the S&P 500 jumped 1.4 percent and the Dow advanced 0.9 percent.

The higher close on Wall Street came as traders generally remain optimistic about a U.S.-Iran deal but seemed to be waiting for more concrete developments before making more significant moves. Recent reports have suggested the U.S. and Iran have agreed to a framework for a 60-day extension of the ceasefire.

Positive sentiment may have been generated in reaction a sharp increase by shares of Dell Technologies (DELL), which skyrocketed after the company reported better than expected fiscal Q1 results and raised its full-year guidance.

Crude oil prices tumbled Friday on expectations of the U.S. and Iran signing an agreement, which would allow for the immediate reopening of the Strait of Hormuz and pave the way for the resumption of oil and energy trade. West Texas Intermediate crude for July delivery was down $1.65 or 1.86 percent at $87.25 per barrel.