Hong Kong Stock Market Due For Consolidation

(RTTNews) - The Hong Kong stock market has climbed higher in five straight sessions, spiking more than 840 points or 4.4 percent along the way. The Hang Seng Index now sits just beneath the 20,410-point plateau although investors may lock in gains on Tuesday.

The global forecast for the Asian markets is a study in contrasts, with gains among oil stocks likely offset by weakness among the technology shares. The European and U.S. markets were mixed and the Asian bourses figure to follow suit.

The Hang Seng finished barely higher on Monday following gains from the energy stocks and mixed performances from the property and technology companies.

For the day, the index perked 9.07 points or 0.04 percent to finish at 20,409.18 after trading between 20,226.95 and 20,475.43.

Among the actives, Alibaba Group retreated 1.84 percent, while Alibaba Health Info jumped 1.94 percent, ANTA Sports stumbled 1.75 percent, China Life Insurance collected 0.31 percent, China Mengniu Dairy rose 0.47 percent, China Resources Land rallied 2.09 percent, CITIC sank 0.54 percent, CNOOC soared 2.40 percent, Country Garden advanced 0.74 percent, CSPC Pharmaceutical lost 0.52 percent, Galaxy Entertainment surged 5.91 percent, Hang Lung Properties and Hengan International Group both eased 0.14 percent, Henderson Land fell 0.37 percent, Hong Kong & China Gas dropped 0.87 percent, Industrial and Commercial Bank of China slumped 1.67 percent, JD.com skidded 1.34 percent, Lenovo slid 0.24 percent, Li Ning declined 1.94 percent, Meituan tanked 2.44 percent, New World Development gained 0.48 percent, Techtronic Industries spiked 2.24 percent, Xiaomi Corporation added 0.50 percent, WuXi Biologics tumbled 2.67 percent and CK Infrastructure and CLP Holdings were unchanged.

The lead from Wall Street is incongruous as the Dow and S&P opened higher and finished the same way, while the NASDAQ opened in the red and remained there throughout the session.

The Dow surged 327.00 points or 0.98 percent to finish at 33,601.15, while the NASDAQ dropped 32.45 points or 0.27 percent to end at 12,189.45 and the S&P 500 added 15.20 points or 0.37 percent to close at 4,124.51.

The strength on Wall Street rose the back of the energy sector as crude oil prices surged, while technology stocks ebbed on fears over the outlook for interest rates.

Oil prices rose sharply on Monday, buoyed by the decision of OPEC+ oil producers to cut output by around 1.16 million barrels per day. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for May ended higher by $4.75 or 6.3 percent at $80.42 a barrel.

In economic news, the Institute for Supply Management said manufacturing activity in the U.S. contracted at a slightly faster rate in March. Also, the Commerce Department unexpectedly showed a slight decrease in U.S. construction spending in February.