Hong Kong Stock Market Tipped To Open Under Water

(RTTNews) - The Hong Kong stock market on Thursday snapped the two-day losing streak in which it had dropped more than 250 points or 1 percent. The Hang Seng Index now sits just above the 25,210-point plateau although it's likely to see renewed selling pressure on Friday.

The global forecast for the Asian markets is negative on tech weakness, surging oil prices and Middle East tensions. The European and U.S. markets were sharply lower and the Asian bourses also figure to open in the red.

The Hang Seng finished sharply higher on Thursday following gains from the financial shares, property stocks and technology companies.

For the day, the index jumped 318.15 points or 1.28 percent to finish at 25,210.81 after trading between 24,876.83 and 25,267.39.

The lead from Wall Street is bleak as the major averages opened sharply lower and stayed that way throughout the trading day.

The Dow tumbled 506.93 points or 0.97 percent to finish at 51,711.65, while the NASDAQ plummeted 553.21 points or 2.15 percent to close at 25,137.69 and the S&P 500 sank 90.66 points or 1.21 percent to end at 7,408.30.

The sell-off on Wall Street reflected a negative reaction to earnings news from tech giants Tesla (TSLA) and Alphabet (GOOGL).

Crude oil prices surged again on Thursday amid concerns of a wider conflict in the Middle East set off by new attacks by the Iran-backed Houthis in Yemen on two Saudi Arabian tankers in the Red Sea. West Texas Intermediate crude for September delivery was up $5.76 or 6.63 percent at $92.59 per barrel.

The continued spike by the price of crude oil has added to recent concerns about the outlook for inflation and the possibility of higher interest rates.

In U.S. economic news, the Labor Department said first-time claims for unemployment benefits unexpectedly decreased last week.