Hong Kong Stock Market May Halt Its Slide

(RTTNews) - The Hong Kong stock market has moved lower in two straight sessions, sinking almost 390 points or 1.4 percent in that span. The Hang Seng Index now sits just above the 25,175-point plateau although it may stop the bleeding on Thursday.

The global forecast for the Asian markets offers little guidance, with support from oil and technology stocks likely to be offset by weakness from the property and transportation companies. 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 Wednesday following losses from the financial shares and technology stocks, while the properties came in mixed.

For the day, the index plummeted 347.52 points or 1.36 percent to finish at 25,176.93 after trading between 25,082.20 and 25,499.57.

Among the actives, Alibaba Group tanked 2.98 percent, while Alibaba Health Info jumped 2.27 percent, ANTA Sports advanced 1.14 percent, China Life Insurance strengthened 1.53 percent, China Mengniu Dairy improved 1.30 percent, China Resources Land dropped 0.66 percent, CITIC lost 0.49 percent, CNOOC climbed 1.48 percent, CSPC Pharmaceutical spiked 2.33 percent, Galaxy Entertainment retreated 1.43 percent, Haier Smart Home fell 0.39 percent, Hang Lung Properties rallied 2.58 percent, Henderson Land perked 0.18 percent, Hong Kong & China Gas added 0.85 percent, Industrial and Commercial Bank of China dipped 0.33 percent, JD.com stumbled 2.68 percent, Lenovo skidded 0.73 percent, Li Auto plummeted 12.84 percent, Li Ning rose 0.24 percent, Meituan slumped 0.93 percent, New World Development sank 0.61 percent, Nongfu Spring gained 0.43 percent, Techtronic Industries plunged 4.13 percent, Xiaomi Corporation declined 0.99 percent, WuXi Biologics shed 0.60 percent and Hengan International was unchanged.

The lead from Wall Street is soft as the major averages opened slightly higher on Wednesday and hugged the line until the FOMC statement, ending mixed and little changed.

The Dow dropped 171.71 points or 0.38 percent to finish at 44,461.28, while the NASDAQ rose 31.38 points or 0.15 percent to close at 21,129.67 and the S&P 500 fell 7.96 points or 0.12 percent to end at 6,362.90.

The mixed closed by the major averages came after the Federal Reserve announced its widely expected decision to leave interest rates unchanged in a divided vote.

The decision to leave rates unchanged was not unanimous as Fed Governors Michelle Bowman and Christopher Waller preferred to lower rates by a quarter percentage point.

In economic news, payroll processor ADP said private sector employment in the U.S. increased more than expected in July. Also, the Commerce Department said the U.S. economy rebounded by more than expected in the second quarter of 2025.

Crude oil inched higher on Wednesday on hopes the U.S. can avoid a trade war, while the grace period was cut for Russia to avoid sanctions on its energy trades from 50 to 10 days. West Texas Intermediate crude for September delivery rose $0.82 or 1.18 percent at $70.02 per barrel.

Closer to home, Hong Kong will see preliminary Q2 readings for gross domestic product later today; in Q1, GDP was up 1.9 percent on quarter and 3.1 percent on year.