Hong Kong Stock Market May Continue To Roll On Friday

(RTTNews) - The Hong Kong stock market has finished higher in four straight sessions, advancing almost 900 points or 3.6 percent along the way. The Hang Seng Index now sits just above the 25,850-point plateau and it's looking at another green light for Friday's trade.

The global forecast for the Asian markets is upbeat on bargain hunting and easing oil prices. The European and U.S. markets were up and the Asian bourses figure to open in similar fashion.

The Hang Seng finished modestly higher on Thursday following gains from the financial shares and a mixed picture from the technology stocks.

For the day, the index picked up 50.96 points or 0.20 percent to finish at 25,858.88 after trading between 25,657.33 and 25,971.63.

The lead from Wall Street is firm as the major averages opened higher on Thursday and continued to track higher throughout the day, sending at session highs.

The Dow jumped 613.92 points or 1.19 percent to finish at 52,208.06, while the NASDAQ rallied 679.24 points or 2.78 percent to end at 25,122.18 and the S&P 500 climbed 121.48 points or 1.66 percent to close at 7,437.63.

Bargain hunting contributed to the strength among tech stocks after the NASDAQ plunged to a three-month closing low on Wednesday. The Dow and the S&P 500 also ended the session at their lowest closing levels in well over a month.

Microsoft (MSFT) led the tech rally on strong earnings, while semiconductors, airlines and gold stocks also lent support.

On the U.S. economic front, the Commerce Department said that consumer prices edged down in line with estimates in June, while the annual rate of growth also slowed as expected.

Crude oil prices slipped on Thursday as ongoing talks between Iran and Oman over the Strait of Hormuz management induced positivity on the resumption of the free flow of gulf oil. West Texas Intermediate crude for September delivery was down $0.65 or 0.77 percent at $83.81 per barrel.

Closer to home, Hong Kong will provide preliminary Q2 data for gross domestic product later today; in the previous three months, GDP was up 2.9 percent on quarter and 5.9 percent on year.