Hong Kong Stock Market May Take Further Damage On Thursday

(RTTNews) - The Hong Kong stock market has finished lower in back-to-back sessions, slumping more than 230 points or 1.4 percent along the way. The Hang Seng Index now rests just beneath the 16,360-point plateau and it may extend its losses on Thursday.

The global forecast for the Asian markets suggests consolidation ahead of key inflation data and on U.S. political uncertainty. The European and U.S. markets were down and the Asian bourses figure to follow that lead.

The SCI finished sharply lower on Wednesday following losses from the technology, property and energy companies.

For the day, the index dropped 198.79 points or 1.20 percent to finish at 16,358.52 after trading between 16,213.03 and 16,730.20.

Among the actives, Alibaba Group retreated 1.64 percent, while Alibaba Health Info plunged 3.59 percent, ANTA Sports slumped 1.19 percent, China Life Insurance and Lenovo both lost 0.31 percent, China Mengniu Dairy eased 0.17 percent, China Resources Land spiked 2.73 percent, CITIC sank 0.40 percent, CNOOC fell 0.0 percent, Country Garden surged 4.44 percent, CSPC Pharmaceutical dropped 0.53 percent, Galaxy Entertainment stumbled 1.38 percent, Hang Lung Properties declined 1.94 percent, Henderson Land jumped 1.41 percent, Hong Kong & China Gas skidded 0.63 percent, Industrial and Commercial Bank of China collected 0.28 percent, JD.com tanked 3.42 percent, Li Ning surrendered 2.11 percent, Longfor soared 4.03 percent, Meituan tumbled 3.02 percent, New World Development shed 0.36 percent, Techtronic Industries added 0.30 percent, Xiaomi Corporation weakened 0.79 percent, WuXi Biologics plummeted 4.70 percent and China Petroleum and Chemical (Sinopec) was unchanged.

The lead from Wall Street is broadly negative as the major averages opened modestly lower on Wednesday but saw the losses accelerate as the day progressed, ending at session lows.

The Dow plummeted 646.89 points or 1.95 percent to finish at 32,513.94, while the NASDAQ plunged 263.03 points or 2.48 percent to close at 10,353.17 and the S&P 500 sank 79.54 points or 2.08 percent to end at 3,748.57.

The sharply pullback on Wall Street came as traders cashed in on recent strength in the markets amid lingering uncertainty about the results of the U.S. midterm elections as control of both houses of Congress remains unclear.

Traders may also be moving money out of stocks ahead today's highly anticipated report on consumer price inflation, which could have a significant impact on the outlook for interest rates.

Crude oil prices tumbled Wednesday, weighed down by a jump in crude stockpiles, concerns about the outlook for energy demand and a stronger U.S. dollar. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for December ended lower by $3.08 or 3.5 percent at $85.83 a barrel, falling for the third consecutive session.