Hong Kong Shares Tipped To Open In The Red On Friday

(RTTNews) - The Hong Kong stock market has moved higher in four straight sessions, advancing almost 825 points or 3.5 percent along the way. The Hang Seng Index now rests just above the 27,070-point plateau although profit taking is expected on Friday.

The global forecast for the Asian markets is broadly negative on continued uncertainty regarding the end of the U.S. government shutdown. The European and U.S. markets were sharply lower and the Asian bourses are expected to open in similar fashion.

The Hang Seng finished modestly higher on Thursday as the insurance, property and technology shares were mostly higher.

For the day, the index jumped 150.30 points or 0.56 percent to finish at 27,073.03 after trading between 26,733.21 and 27,188.81.

Among the actives, Alibaba Group spiked 3.32 percent, while Alibaba Health Info increased 0.68 percent, ANTA Sports expanded 1.21 percent, China Life Insurance collected 2.39 percent, China Mengniu Dairy climbed 0.80 percent, CITIC strengthened 1.25 percent, CNOOC tumbled 2.01 percent, CSPC Pharmaceutical surged 3.79 percent, Galaxy Entertainment and Lenovo both slumped 1.18 percent, Haier Smart Home perked 0.15 percent, Hang Lung Properties improved 0.75 percent, Henderson Land jumped 1.59 percent, Hong Kong & China Gas stumbled 2.10 percent, Industrial and Commercial Bank of China and CLP Holdings both fell 0.15 percent, JD.com lost 0.24 percent, Li Auto dropped 0.88 percent, Li Ning added 0.45 percent, Meituan gained 0.29 percent, New World Development sank 0.51 percent, Nongfu Spring retreated 1.96 percent, Techtronic Industries rallied 3.02 percent, Xiaomi Corporation shed 0.46 percent, WuXi Biologics soared 3.36 percent and China Resources Land was unchanged.

The lead from Wall Street is rough as the major averages opened slightly lower on Thursday but accelerated deeper into the red as the day progressed, ending near session lows.

The Dow plunged 779.86 points or 1.62 percent to finish at 47,474.96, while the NASDAQ tanked 536.10 points or 2.29 percent to end at 22,870.36 and the S&P 500 sank 114.20 points or 1.67 percent to close at 6,736.72.

The Dow pulled back well off the record closing high set on Wednesday amid a steep drop by shares of Disney (DIS), which came under pressure after the company reported fiscal fourth quarter earnings that exceeded analyst estimates but weaker than expected revenues.

Valuation concerns also continued to weigh on tech stocks, with AI darling and market leader Nvidia (NVDA) moving sharply lower along with tech heavyweights like Broadcom (AVGO) and Alphabet (GOOGL).

The weakness on Wall Street may also have reflected uncertainty whether key U.S. economic will be released following the end of the longest government shutdown in U.S. history.

Crude oil edged higher on Thursday as the end of the U.S. government shutdown has renewed confidence in consumption and energy demand. West Texas Intermediate crude for December delivery was up $0.22 or 0.38 percent at $58.71 per barrel.

Closer to home, Hong Kong will see Q3 figures for gross domestic product later today; in the previous quarter, GDP was up 0.7 percent on quarter and 3.8 percent on year.