Hong Kong Shares Tipped To Open In The Red

(RTTNews) - The Hong Kong stock market on Thursday wrote a finish to the two-day slide in which it had dropped more than 220 points or 0.8 percent. The Hang Seng Index now rests just above the 26,480-point plateau although it may face renewed consolidation on Friday.

The global forecast for the Asian bourse is negative, with technology and oil shares likely to lead the markets lower. The European and U.S. markets were solidly lower and the Asian bourses figure to follow that lead.

The Hang Seng finished sharply higher on Thursday with gains across the board, especially among the financial shares, property stocks and technology companies.

For the day, the index surged 550.49 points or 2.12 percent to finish at 26,485.90 after trading between 26,061.58 and 26,490.71.

Among the actives, Alibaba Group soared 4.10 percent, while Alibaba Health Info rose 0.88 percent, ANTA Sports added 1.13 percent, China Life Insurance surged 4.86 percent, China Mengniu Dairy advanced 1.49 percent, China Resources Land improved 1.88 percent, CITIC accelerated 2.19 percent, CNOOC spiked 2.65 percent, CSPC Pharmaceutical strengthened 2.03 percent, Galaxy Entertainment sank 0.36 percent, Haier Smart Home rallied 2.31 percent, Hang Lung Properties was up 0.82 percent, Henderson Land expanded 0.71 percent, Hong Kong & China Gas jumped 2.05 percent, Industrial and Commercial Bank of China collected 0.96 percent, JD.com soared 3.34 percent, Lenovo gained 0.99 percent, Li Auto climbed 2.00 percent, Li Ning gathered 0.83 percent, Meituan accelerated 2.08 percent, New World Development increased 1.83 percent, Nongfu Spring surged 3.44 percent, Techtronic Industries spiked 2.52 percent, Xiaomi Corporation picked up 0.28 percent and WuXi Biologics perked 0.11 percent.

The lead from Wall Street is weak as the major averages opened in the red on Thursday and spent the entire session under water, finishing near daily lows.

The Dow stumbled 398.70 points or 0.84 percent to finish at 46,912.30, while the NASDAQ plunged 445.80 points or 1.90 percent to close at 23,053.99 and the S&P 500 sank 75.97 points or 1.12 percent to end at 6,720.32.

The sharp pullback on Wall Street came on renewed weakness among artificial intelligence-related stocks, which led the sell-off on Tuesday. Concerns about an AI bubble and the possibility of a near-term correction have recently weighed on investors' minds.

Negative sentiment may also have been generated in reaction to a report from global outplacement firm Challenger, Gray & Christmas showing a sharp increase in layoff announcements in the month of October.

Crude oil prices fell Thursday on oversupply concerns after the American Petroleum Institute revealed that U.S. crude oil inventories increased much more than expected last week. West Texas Intermediate crude for December delivery was down $0.21 or 0.35 percent at $59.39 per barrel.