Hong Kong Stock Market May Spin Its Wheels On Wednesday

(RTTNews) - The Hong Kong stock market has moved higher in three straight sessions, collecting more than 560 points or 2.5 percent along the way. The Hang Seng now sits just above the 23,525-point plateau although it may run out of steam on Wednesday.

The global forecast for the Asian markets is cautiously optimistic on easing oil prices and a rebound among battered technology stocks. The European markets were down and the U.S. bourses were mostly higher and the Asian markets figure to split the difference.

The Hang Seng finished modestly higher on Tuesday as gains from the food and finance stocks were capped by weakness among the technology companies.

For the day, the index gained 132.65 points or 0.57 percent to finish at 23,525.97 after trading between 23,347.03 and 23,549.31.

The lead from Wall Street is a study in contrasts as the NASDAQ and S&P 500 opened higher on Tuesday and stayed that way, while the Dow opened in the red and remained under water throughout the day.

The Dow dropped 197.26 points or 0.38 percent to finish at 51,786.72, while the NASDAQ jumped 207.65 points or 0.83 percent to close at 25,372.01 and the S&P 500 added 27.52 points or 0.36 percent to end at 7,568.92.

The pullback by the Dow reflected a big decline by shares of Apple (AAPL), which slumped 1.9 percent after it posted increased quarterly revenue and profits but forecast slightly below consensus gross margin for the current quarter.

Semiconductor stocks helped lead the tech sector higher, with the Philadelphia Semiconductor Index surging by 2.6 percent after ending the previous session at a six-month closing low.

Computer hardware, software and networking stocks also saw considerable strength following recent weakness.

Crude oil prices turned lower on Tuesday amid rising expectations on a possible settlement between the U.S. and Iran. West Texas Intermediate crude for December delivery was down $0.52 or 0.54 percent at $95.94 per barrel.