Hong Kong Stock Market May Open Under Pressure On Monday

(RTTNews) - The Hong Kong stock market on Friday emphatically halted the two-day slide in which it had dropped almost 470 points or 2.1 percent. The Hang Seng Index now sits just above the 23,475-point plateau although it's likely to see a downward correction on Monday.

The global forecast for the Asian markets is weak on concerns over inflation and the outlook for interest rates. The European markets were mixed and the U.S. bourses were sharply lower and the Asian markets figure to follow the latter lead.

The Hang Seng finished sharply higher on Friday following huge gains among the technology stocks and insurance companies, while the property sector was mixed.

For the day, the index skyrocketed 900.92 points or 3.99 percent to finish at the daily high of 23,477.92 after moving as low as 22,901.69.

Among the actives, Alibaba Group surged 14.56 percent, while Alibaba Health Info strengthened 4.86 percent, ANTA Sports gained 0.79 percent, China Life Insurance collected 3.83 percent, China Mengniu Dairy rose 0.36 percent, China Resources Land advanced 2,45 percent, CITIC fell 0.22 percent, CNOOC sank 0.64 percent, CSPC Pharmaceutical increased 2.04 percent, Galaxy Entertainment slumped 1.17 percent, Haier Smart Home dropped 0.79 percent, Hang Lung Properties perked 0.16 percent, Henderson Land stumbled 2.61 percent, Industrial and Commercial Bank of China eased 0.18 percent, JD.com jumped 5.14 percent, Lenovo skyrocketed 15.45 percent, Li Auto accelerated 7.36 percent, Li Ning added 0.85 percent, Meituan climbed 3.82 percent, New World Development spiked 6.49 percent, Nongfu Spring skidded 1.03 percent, Techtronic Industries improved 2.43 percent, Xiaomi Corporation rallied 5.19 percent, WuXi Biologics soared 7.00 percent and Hong Kong & China Gas was unchanged.

The lead from Wall Street is bleak as the major averages opened slightly lower on Friday but headed steadily lower throughout the day, ending at session lows.

The Dow plummeted 748.63 points or 1.69 percent to finish at 43,428.02, while the NASDAQ stumbled 438.36 points or 2.20 percent to close at 19,524.01 and the S&P 500 sank 104.39 points or 1.71 percent to 6,013.13. For the week, the Dow and the NASDAQ both dropped 2.5 percent, while the S&P tumbled 1.8 percent.

The sell-off on Wall Street came after the University of Michigan released a report showing consumer sentiment in the U.S. deteriorated by much more than expected in February.

The substantial deterioration by consumer sentiment came amid a surge by year-ahead inflation expectations, which spiked to 4.3 percent in February from 3.3 percent in January, reaching the highest level since November 2023.

Oil prices fell sharply to a two-month low on Friday, weighed down by concerns over the outlook for demand, and data showing a jump in crude inventories. A stronger dollar also fueled oil's decline. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for April lost $2.08 or 2.9 percent at $70.40 a barrel. WTI crude futures shed 0.5 percent in the week.