Losing Streak May Continue For Hong Kong Shares

(RTTNews) - Ahead of the break for the Lunar New Year, the Hong Kong stock market had finished lower in three straight sessions, slumping more than 380 points or 2.5 percent along the way. The Hang Seng Index now rests just beneath the 15,750-point plateau and it may take further damage on Wednesday.

The global forecast for the Asian markets is broadly negative on rising pessimism over the outlook for interest rates. The European and U.S. markets finished sharply lower and the Asian markets figure to also open under pressure.

The Hang Seng finished modestly lower in Friday's half-day session following losses from the financial and technology stocks and a mixed picture from the property sector.

For the day, the index dropped 131.49 points or 0.83 percent to finish at 15,746.58 after trading between 15,531.03 and 15,754.01.

Among the actives, Alibaba Group and Techtronic Industries both dropped 1.42 percent, while Alibaba Health Info tanked 2.79 percent, ANTA Sports jumped 1.58 percent, China Life Insurance slumped 1.60 percent, China Mengniu Dairy weakened 1.52 percent, China Resources Land stumbled 1.88 percent, CITIC fell 0.66 percent, CNOOC shed 1.09 percent, Country Garden plummeted 6.69 percent, CSPC Pharmaceutical declined 2.17 percent, Galaxy Entertainment rose 0.35 percent, Haier Smart Home added 0.65 percent, Hang Lung Properties plunged 4.04 percent, Henderson Land gained 0.48 percent, Hong Kong & China Gas eased 0.18 percent, Industrial and Commercial Bank of China slid 0.52 percent, JD.com retreated 2.22 percent, Lenovo lost 0.98 percent, Li Ning was up 0.32 percent, Meituan sank 1.25 percent, New World Development surrendered 2.59 percent, Xiaomi Corporation skidded 1.43 percent and WuXi Biologics tumbled 2.26 percent.

The lead from Wall Street suggests consolidation as the major averages opened sharply lower and stayed that way throughout the session.

The Dow plunged 524.63 points or 1.35 percent to finish at 38,272.75, while the NASDAQ tumbled 286.95 points or 1.80 percent to close at 15,655.60 and the S&P 500 sank 68.67 points or 1.37 percent to end at 4,953.17.

The sell-off on Wall Street followed the release of a highly anticipated Labor Department report showing consumer prices in the U.S. increased by slightly more than expected in January.

With Federal Reserve officials repeatedly saying they need more confidence that inflation is slowing before lowering interest rates, the data has further reduced optimism about a near-term rate cut.

Treasuries yields surged in response to the data, with the yield on the benchmark ten-year note reaching its highest level in two months.

Oil prices climbed higher Tuesday amid concerns about supply due to the ongoing tensions in the Middle East. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for March rose $0.95 or 1.25 percent at $77.87 a barrel, up for a seventh straight session.