Hong Kong Stock Market May Find Traction On Monday

(RTTNews) - Ahead of Friday's holiday for SAR Establishment Day, the Hong Kong stock market had finished lower in back-to-back sessions, slumping more than 560 points or 2.5 percent along the way. The Hang Seng Index now rests just beneath the 21,860-point plateau although it may halt its slide on Monday.

The global forecast for the Asian markets is upbeat, with bargain hunting expected after heavy selling last week, especially among the oil and technology stocks. The European markets were mixed and flat and the U.S. bourses were up and the Asian markets figure to split the difference.

The Hang Seng finished modestly lower on Thursday following losses from the financials, properties, oil companies and technology stocks.

For the day, the index dropped 137.10 points or 0.62 percent to finish at 21,859.79 after trading between 21,719.17 and 22,111.91.

Among the actives, AAC Technologies tanked 3.01 percent, while Alibaba Group tumbled 2.27 percent, Alibaba Health Info declined 1.46 percent, ANTA Sports surged 3.49 percent, China Life Insurance collected 0.59 percent, China Mengniu Dairy spiked 2.35 percent, China Petroleum and Chemical (Sinopec) sank 0.84 percent, China Resources Land jumped 0.97 percent, CITIC skidded 1.00 percent, CNOOC shed 0.77 percent, Country Garden eased 0.14 percent, CSPC Pharmaceutical rallied 2.10 percent, Galaxy Entertainment dropped 0.95 percent, Henderson Land fell 0.17 percent, Hong Kong & China Gas gained 0.36 percent, Industrial and Commercial Bank of China lost 0.21 percent, JD.com added 0.56 percent, Lenovo plunged 4.18 percent, Li Ning soared 2.97 percent, Meituan plummeted 4.24 percent, New World Development slumped 1.05 percent, Techtronic Industries rose 0.24 percent, Xiaomi Corporation stumbled 1.16 percent, WuXi Biologics retreated 1.17 percent and Hang Lung Properties was unchanged.

The lead from Wall Street is positive as stocks shook off early listlessness on Friday, accelerating in the second half to finish near session highs.

The Dow spiked 321.86 points or 1.05 percent to finish at 31,097.26, while the NASDAQ jumped 99.14 points or 0.90 percent to close at 11,127.84 and the S&P 500 soared 39.95 points or 1.06 percent to end at 3,825.33.

For the week, the NASDAQ plunged 4.1 percent, the S&P sank 2.2 percent and the Dow dropped 1.3 percent.

The higher close on Wall Street came as traders went bargain hunting following early session selling. Concerns about the possibility of tighter monetary policy triggering a global recession also weigh on the markets in early trading.

Stocks fell under pressure following a report from the Institute for Supply Management showing U.S. manufacturing activity slowed more than expected in June, while a separate report from the Commerce Department showed U.S. construction spending unexpectedly edged lower in May.

Crude oil prices moved higher Friday on concerns about supply outages in Libya and shutdowns in Norway caused by striking workers. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for August ended higher by $2.67 or 2.5 percent at $108.43 a barrel. WTI crude oil futures rose 1 percent in the week.