Hong Kong Stock Market May Hand Back Friday's Gains

(RTTNews) - The Hong Kong stock market on Friday ended the three-day losing streak in which it had tumbled more than 650 points or 3.2 percent. The Hang Seng Index now sits just beneath the 19,540-point plateau and it's likely to open in the red again on Monday.

The global forecast for the Asian markets is murky after inconsistent U.S. employment data. The European markets were up and the U.S. bourses were down and the Asian markets figure to split the difference.

The Hang Seng finished modestly higher on Friday following gains from the oil companies and mixed performances from the financials and technology stocks.

For the day, the index jumped 118.56 points or 0.61 percent to finish at 19,539.46 after trading between 19,461.61 and 19,857.39.

Among the actives, Alibaba Group rallied 2.15 percent, while Alibaba Health Info surged 3.16 percent, ANTA Sports advanced 0.98 percent, China Life Insurance jumped 2.07 percent, China Mengniu Dairy gathered 0.90 percent, China Resources Land improved 0.43 percent, CITIC gained 0.36 percent, CNOOC added 0.82 percent, Country Garden rose 0.41 percent, CSPC Pharmaceutical lost 0.32 percent, Galaxy Entertainment sank 0.63 percent, Hang Lung Properties retreated 1.96 percent, Henderson Land dropped 0.43 percent, Hong Kong & China Gas declined 1.24 percent, Industrial and Commercial Bank of China fell 0.27 percent, JD.com soared 3.13 percent, Lenovo improved 1.04 percent, Li Ning strengthened 1.37 percent, Meituan spiked 2.71 percent, New World Development tumbled 2.08 percent, Techtronic Industries shed 0.36 percent, Xiaomi Corporation climbed 1.33 percent and WuXi Biologics skidded 0.88 percent.

The lead from Wall Street is soft as the major averages opened higher on Friday and spent most of the day in the green before late selling pressure saw them finish slightly under water.

The Dow dropped 150.28 points or 0.43 percent to finish at 35,0.65.62, while the NASDAQ lost 50.46 points or 0.36 percent to close at 13,909.24 and the S&P 500 sank 23.86 points or 0.53 percent to end at 4,478.03.

For the week, the Dow slumped 1.1 percent, the S&P 500 tumbled 2.3 percent and the NASDAQ plunged 2.9 percent.

The volatility on Wall Street came after the Labor Department released a report showing that employment in the U.S. increased less than expected in July, although the jobless rate surprisingly ticked lower.

Following the mixed report, most economists still expect another pause in interest rate hikes by the Federal Reserve next month, although the data has led to some uncertainty about the outlook for rates beyond that.

Crude oil prices climbed higher Friday, extending recent gains amid tightening supply issues after Saudi Arabia and Russia pledged to cut output through next month. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for September ended higher by $1.27 at $82.82 a barrel.