Hong Kong Stock Market Tipped To Open In The Red

(RTTNews) - The Hong Kong stock market on Tuesday snapped the two-day losing streak in which it had stumbled almost 400 points or 2.5 percent. The Hang Seng Index now sits just beneath the 16,620-point plateau although it may hand back those gains on Wednesday.

The global forecast for the Asian markets is mixed to lower, with technology and oil companies expected to be under pressure. The European markets were up and the U.S. bourses were down and the Asian markets figure to follow the latter lead.

The Hang Zeng finished modestly higher on Tuesday as the technology stocks, financial shares and properties were mostly in the green.

For the day, the index advanced 144.72 points or 0.88 percent to finish at 16,618.32 after trading between 16,452.55 and 16,728.90.

Among the actives, Alibaba Health Info advanced 1.25 percent, while China Life Insurance collected 0.88 percent, China Mengniu Dairy plunged 2.27 percent, China Resources Land spiked 2.26 percent, CITIC accelerated 1.63 percent, CNOOC lost 0.33 percent, Country Garden improved 0.91 percent, CSPC Pharmaceutical gained 0.16 percent, Galaxy Entertainment increased 0.89 percent, Hang Lung Properties retreated 1.23 percent, Henderson Land added 0.66 percent, Hong Kong & China Gas tumbled 1.74 percent, Industrial and Commercial Bank of China climbed 1.27 percent, JD.com rallied 1.36 percent, Lenovo skyrocketed 3.60 percent, Li Ning slumped 0.50 percent, Meituan rose 0.11 percent, New World Development sank 0.47 percent, Techtronic Industries and ANTA Sports both soared 3.15 percent, Xiaomi Corporation surged 3.24 percent, WuXi Biologics plummeted 3.28 percent and Alibaba Group and Haier Smart Home were unchanged.

The lead from Wall Street ends up negative as the major averages opened higher on Tuesday and spent most of the session in the green before a late slump sent them all under water at the close.

The Dow shed 31.31 points or 0.08 percent to finish at 39,282.33, while the NASDAQ lost 68.80 points or 0.42 percent to close at 16,315.70 and the S&P 500 fell 14.61 points or 0.28 percent to end at 5,203.58.

The late-day weakness on Wall Street may have reflected concerns about the economic impact of the indefinite suspension of vessel traffic into and out of the Port of Baltimore.

Vessel traffic was suspended after a cargo ship crashed into a pillar of the Francis Scott Key Bridge early Tuesday morning, leading to the bridge's collapse.

In economic news, the Commerce Department reported an increase in new orders for U.S. manufactured durable goods in February. Also, the Conference Board noted a slight deterioration in U.S. consumer confidence in March.

Crude oil futures settled lower on Tuesday with traders assessing oil demand and supply positions amid the tensions in the Middle East. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for May ended lower by $0.33 at $81.62 a barrel.