Hong Kong Stock Market Tipped To Open In The Red

(RTTNews) - The Hong Kong stock market on Wednesday wrote a finish to the two-day winning streak in which it had jumped almost 500 points or 2.5 percent. The Hang Seng Index now sits just above the 19,110-point plateau and it's looking at another rough start again on Thursday.

The global forecast for the Asian markets is negative on pessimism over the outlook for interest rates. The European and U.S. markets were down and the Asian bourses are expected to open in similar fashion.

The Hang Seng finished sharply lower on Wednesday with damage across the board, especially among the financials, properties and technology stocks.

For the day, the index tumbled 305.30 points or 1.57 percent to finish at 19,110.38 after trading between 19,095.60 and 19,378.90.

Among the actives, Alibaba Group stumbled 1.61 percent, while Alibaba Health Info was down 0.62 percent, ANTA Sports and CK Infrastructure both sank 1.19 percent, China Life Insurance skidded 1.30 percent, China Mengniu Dairy shed 1.13 percent, China Resources Land fell 1.03 percent, CITIC tanked 3.16 percent, CNOOC gained 0.52 percent, Country Garden plunged 4.38 percent, CSPC Pharmaceutical retreated 1.72 percent, Galaxy Entertainment weakened 1.45 percent, Hang Lung Properties dipped 0.82 percent, Henderson Land lost 1.06 percent, Hong Kong & China Gas eased 0.44 percent, Industrial and Commercial Bank of China declined 1.91 percent, JD.com surrendered 2.46 percent, Lenovo added 0.58 percent, Li Ning plummeted 4.89 percent, Meituan tumbled 2.43 percent, New World Development dropped 1.23 percent, Techtronic Industries slumped 1.60 percent, WuXi Biologics slid 0.89 percent and Xiaomi Corporation was unchanged.

The lead from Wall Street is weak as the major averages opened lower on Wednesday and largely spent the day in the red, ending near session lows.

The Dow dropped 129.83 points or 0.38 percent to finish at 34,288.64, while the NASDAQ sank 25.12 points or 0.18 percent to close at 13,791.65 and the S&P 500 fell 8.77 points or 0.20 percent to end at 4,446.82.

The selling pressure came ahead of, and in response to, the latest batch of FOMC minutes which suggested a more hawkish tone for the outlook on interest rates than had been hoped.

The minutes also showed the members disagreed on rate hikes. After the June meeting, all but two of the 18 participants expected that at least one hike would be appropriate this year, and 12 expected two or more hikes.

In economic news, the Commerce Department released a report showing new orders for U.S. manufactured goods increased by much less than expected in May.

Crude oil futures settled sharply higher on Wednesday, buoyed by government data showing a significant jump in U.S. crude shipments last week. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for August ended higher by $2.00 or 2.9 percent at $71.79 a barrel.