Hong Kong Stock Market May See Continued Consolidation

(RTTNews) - The Hong Kong stock market on Wednesday halted the two-day winning streak in which it had collected more than 300 points or 1.2 percent. The Hang Seng now sits just above the 24,130-point plateau and it's tipped to open under pressure again on Thursday.

The global forecast for the Asian markets is negative thanks to elevated treasury yields and concerns over the outlook for interest rates. The European and U.S. markets were firmly in the red and the Asian bourses are expected to follow that lead.

The Hang Seng finished modestly lower on Wednesday following losses among the financial shares, property stocks and biotech companies.

For the day, the index dropped 150.06 points or 0.62 percent to finish at 24,130.50 after trading between 24,071.41 and 24,266.92.

The lead from Wall Street is weak as the major averages opened sharply lower on Wednesday and stayed that way throughout the session.

The Dow tumbled 341.41 points or 0.66 percent to finish at 51,179.87, while the NASDAQ sank 61.20 points or 0.22 percent to end at 27,538.69 and the S&P 500 slipped 17.16 points or 0.22 percent to close at 7,801.77.

The weakness on Wall Street emerged after the benchmark ten-year treasury yield bounced back to its highest levels since 2002 - however, they eased as the day progressed, mitigating some of the markets' selling pressure.

Crude oil prices slumped again on Wednesday, unable to hold early gains after the International Energy Agency announced member states have expressed support for accelerating the oil stock releases. West Texas Intermediate crude for November delivery was down $1.15 or 1.3 percent at $88.29 a barrel.

Meanwhile, traders largely shrugged the minutes of the Federal Reserve's latest monetary policy meeting, which confirmed most officials expect to once again raise interest rates before the end of the year.