Hong Kong Stock Market Overdue For Support On Wednesday

(RTTNews) - Ahead of Tuesday's holiday for National Day, the Hong Kong stock market had turned lower again - one session after snapping the two-day slide in which it had stumbled almost 700 points or 4 percent. Now at a fresh 11-year closing low, the Hang Seng Index sits just beneath the 17,080-point plateau although it's expected to open sharply higher on Wednesday.

The global forecast for the Asian markets is upbeat on continued bargain hunting, particularly among the technology stocks and energy companies. The European and U.S. markets were sharply higher and the Asian bourses are predicted to follow that lead.

The Hang Seng finished modestly lower on Monday following losses from the property stocks and financial shares, while the oil and technology companies were mixed.

For the day, the index sank 143.32 points or 0.83 percent to finish at 17,079.51 after trading between 16,906.96 and 17,252.11.

Among the actives, Alibaba Group lost 0.38 percent, while Alibaba Health Info gained 0.56 percent, China Life Insurance plunged 2.98 percent, China Petroleum and Chemical (Sinopec) sank 0.59 percent, China Resources Land spiked 4.21 percent, CITIC shed 0.41 percent, CNOOC advanced 0.74 percent, Country Garden skyrocketed 8.13 percent, CSPC Pharmaceutical rose 0.26 percent, Hang Lung Properties perked 0.16 percent, Henderson Land fell 0.23 percent, Hong Kong & China Gas slumped 1.59 percent, Industrial and Commercial Bank of China skidded 1.36 percent, JD.com tanked 2.62 percent, Lenovo retreated 1.65 percent, Li Ning added 0.67 percent, Longfor surged 7.98 percent, Meituan tumbled 2.36 percent, New World Development plummeted 6.28 percent, Techtronic Industries soared 4.42 percent, Xiaomi Corporation declined 1.90 percent, WuXi Biologics rallied 1.90 percent and ANTA Sports, China Mengniu Dairy and Galaxy Entertainment were unchanged.

The lead from Wall Street is broadly positive for the second straight day as the major averages opened sharply higher on Tuesday and stayed that way throughout the session.

The Dow surged 825.43 points or 2.80 percent to finish at 30,316.32, while the NASDAQ soared 360.97 points or 3.34 percent to end at 11,176.41 and the S&P 500 spiked 112.50 points or 3.06 percent to close at 3,790.93.

The continued strength on Wall Street came as investors scooped up bargains following a brutal September. The rally was also fueled by a lower dollar and falling treasury yields.

Traders also continue to bet that the Federal Reserve may slow the pace of its interest rate hikes on the heels of some disappointing economic data earlier in the week.

Crude oil prices rose sharply Tuesday, extending gains from the previous session as traders continued to bet on hopes the OPEC will agree to a large cut in crude output later today. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for November settled at $86.52 a barrel, up $2.89 or 3.5 percent.