Hong Kong Stock Market Due For Support On Wednesday

(RTTNews) - The Hong Kong stock market has moved lower in two straight sessions, sinking more than 350 points or 1.8 percent along the way. The Hang Seng now rests just above the 19,830-point plateau although it's expected to find traction on Wednesday.

The global forecast for the Asian markets suggests mild upside, with gains likely limited by profit taking from the oil and technology sectors. The European markets were up and the U.S. bourses were mixed and the Asian markets figure to split the difference.

The Hang Seng finished sharply lower on Tuesday following losses from the oil shares, property stocks and technology companies.

For the day, the index slumped 210.34 points or 1.05 percent to finish at 19,830.52 after trading between 19,662.61 and 20,173.40.

Among the actives, Alibaba Group retreated 1.96 percent, while Alibaba Health Info tumbled 2.34 percent, ANTA Sports surrendered 2.29 percent, China Life Insurance slumped 1.74 percent, China Mengniu Dairy eased 0.14 percent, China Petroleum and Chemical (Sinopec) weakened 1.66 percent, China Resources Land soared 3.37 percent, CITIC skidded 1.42 percent, CNOOC tanked 2.74 percent, Country Garden skyrocketed 15.03 percent, CSPC Pharmaceutical stumbled 1.17 percent, Galaxy Entertainment sank 0.74 percent, Hang Lung Properties added 0.30 percent, Hong Kong & China Gas dipped 0.36 percent, Industrial and Commercial Bank of China shed 0.49 percent, JD.com lost 0.45 percent, Lenovo dropped 1.14 percent, Li Ning declined 2.03 percent, Longfor surged 12.42 percent, Meituan plummeted 9.07 percent, New World Development slid 0.38 percent, Techtronic Industries climbed 0.74 percent, Xiaomi Corporation plunged 3.63 percent, WuXi Biologics fell 0.43 percent and Henderson Land was unchanged.

The lead from Wall Street is mixed as the major averages opened on opposite sides of the unchanged line, rallied mid-day but still finished the same way.

The Dow jumped 239.57 points or 0.71 percent to finish at 34,152.01, while the NASDAQ fell 25.50 points or 0.19 percent to close at 13,102.55 and the S&P 500 rose 8.06 points or 0.19 percent to end at 4,305.20.

The continued advance by the Dow was partly due to strong gains by Walmart (WMT) and Home Depot (HD) after both companies reported better than expected second quarter results.

Buying interest may also have been generated in reaction to a report from the Federal Reserve showing U.S. industrial production increased more than expected in July.

Traders largely shrugged off a Commerce Department report showing new residential construction tumbled by much more than expected last month.

Oil prices fell sharply Tuesday on worries about the outlook for energy demand and on a potential increase in supply from OPEC. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for September sank $2.88 or 3.2 percent at $86.53 a barrel.

Closer to home, Hong Kong will see July numbers for unemployment later today; in June, the jobless rate was 4.7 percent.