Hong Kong Stock Market Tipped To Open Under Pressure

(RTTNews) - The Hong Kong stock market on Friday snapped the two-day winning streak in which it had picked up more than 60 points or 0.3 percent. The Hang Seng Index now sits just above the 19,075-point plateau and it's looking at another soft start again on Monday.

The global forecast for the Asian markets suggests mild consolidation following uninspired data from the United States. The European markets were down and the U.S. bourses were mixed and little changed and the Asian markets figure to split the difference.

The Hang Seng finished modestly lower on Friday following losses from the financial shares and mixed performances from the technology and property stocks.

For the day, the index stumbled 173.11 points or 0.90 percent to finish at 19,075.19 after trading between 19,049.92 and 19,346.29.

Among the actives, Alibaba Group climbed 1.06 percent, while Alibaba Health Info plummeted 5.52 percent, ANTA Sports fell 0.93 percent, China Life Insurance plunged 3.36 percent, China Mengniu Dairy shed 1.47 percent, China Resources Land was down 0.59 percent, CITIC dropped 1.68 percent, CNOOC added 0.62 percent, Country Garden stumbled 2.48 percent, CSPC Pharmaceutical declined 2.04 percent, Galaxy Entertainment slumped 1.89 percent, Hang Lung Properties sank 1.65 percent, Henderson Land soared 1.98 percent, Hong Kong & China Gas gained 0.47 percent, Industrial and Commercial Bank of China slid 0.83 percent, JD.com retreated 2.01 percent, Lenovo tanked 3.04 percent, Li Ning advanced 0.81 percent, Meituan tumbled 2.70 percent, New World Development rose 0.46 percent, Techtronic Industries surged 3.99 percent, Xiaomi Corporation skidded 1.82 percent and WuXi Biologics lost 1.14 percent.

The lead from Wall Street ends up mixed as the major averages opened lower on Friday and wound up on opposite sides of the unchanged line after a day of volatility.

The Dow gained 105.30 points or 0.30 percent to finish at 35,281.40, while the NASDAQ slumped 93.15 points or 0.68 percent to close at 13,644.85 and the S&P 500 fell 4.78 points or 0.11 percent to end at 4,464.05. For the week, the Dow added 0.6 percent, the NASDAQ tumbled 1.9 percent and the S&P eased 0.3 percent.

The mixed performance on Wall Street came following the release of a Labor Department report showing producer prices climbed slightly more than expected in July.

While the larger than increase by the headline index led to renewed interest rate concerns among some investors, analysts noted the more important index excluding food, energy, and trade services rose in line with estimates.

A separate report released by the University of Michigan showed a slight pullback in consumer sentiment in August.

Crude oil futures settled higher on Friday after a report from the International Energy Agency forecast strong demand for oil and tightening supplies in the market. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for September ended higher by $0.37 at $83.19 a barrel.