Hong Kong Stock Market May Stop The Bleeding On Monday

(RTTNews) - The Hong Kong stock market has moved lower in four straight sessions, sliding more than 800 points or 3.2 percent along the way. The Hang Seg Index now sits just above the 24,800-point plateau although it's expected to open in the green on Monday.

The global forecast for the Asian markets is positive on easing oil prices and likely bargain hunting. The European and U.S. markets were up and the Asian bourses are expected to open in similar fashion.

The Hang Seng finished modestly lower on Friday following losses among the resource, technology and property sectors.

For the day, the index lost 148.84 points or 0.60 percent to finish at 24,805.63 after trading between 24,570.24 and 24,851.18.

The lead from Wall Street is firm as the major averages opened higher and remained solidly in the green throughout the trading day.

The Dow jumped 509.19 points or 0.98 percent to finish at 52,573,29, while the NASDAQ rallied 251.31 points or 0.96 percent to close at 26,333.04 and the S&P 500 gained 65.28 points or 0.86 percent to end at 7,656.98.

Despite the rebound on the day, the major averages all moved to the downside for the holiday-shortened week. The Dow slumped by 1.6 percent, while the S&P and the NASDAQ slid by 0.8 percent and 0.7 percent, respectively.

The recovery rally on Wall Street came amid a sharp pullback by the price of crude oil, which had skyrocketed over the past few days, while bargain hunting also contributed to the upswing.

Crude oil prices slumped on Friday amid hopes of a possible reopening of the Strait of Hormuz on reports of a possible meeting between Iran and the members of the Gulf Cooperation Council to defuse the gulf crisis. West Texas Intermediate Crude for October delivery was down $2.63 or 2.57 percent at $99.85 per barrel.

Traders shrugged off the Labor Department's report on consumer price inflation in August, which was in line with forecasts. The data solidified expectations that the Federal Reserve will raise interest rates by a quarter-point this week, although it's largely already priced in.

Closer to home, Hong Kong will release Q2 figures for industrial production and producer prices later today. In the previous three months, industrial output was up 3.1 percent on year, while producer prices jumped an annual 17.7 percent.