Losing Streak May Continue For Hong Kong Shares

(RTTNews) - The Hong Kong stock market has finished lower in back-to-back sessions, stumbling more than 400 points or 1.8 percent along the way. The Hang Seng Index now sits just above the 21,660-point plateau and it's expected to open under pressure again on Monday.

The global forecast for the Asian markets is mixed to lower on renewed concerns over the outlook for interest rates. The European markets were mixed and the U.S. bourses were down and the Asian markets figure to split the difference.

The Hang Seng finished sharply lower on Friday following losses from the financials, technology stocks and oil companies.

For the day, the index tumbled 297.93 points or 1.36 percent to finish at 21,660.47 after trading between 21,459.65 and 21,820.78.

Among the actives, Alibaba Group tanked 2.66 percent, while Alibaba Health Info eased 0.15 percent, ANTA Sports fell 0.34 percent, China Life Insurance and China Mengniu Dairy both surrendered 2.41 percent, China Resources Land shed 0.94 percent, CITIC weakened 1.41 percent, CNOOC tumbled 2.43 percent, Country Garden plummeted 7.25 percent, CSPC Pharmaceutical rose 0.11 percent, Galaxy Entertainment sank 0.99 percent, Hang Lung Properties surged 2.69 percent, Henderson Land added 0.34 percent, Hong Kong & China Gas dropped 1.14 percent, Industrial and Commercial Bank of China skidded 1.21 percent, JD.com and ENN Energy both declined 2.37 percent, Lenovo advanced 0.63 percent, Meituan retreated 2.15 percent, New World Development lost 0.83 percent, Techtronic Industries soared 2.34 percent, Xiaomi Corporation slumped 1.46 percent, WuXi Biologics plunged3.16 percent and Li Ning was unchanged.

The lead from Wall Street is negative as the major averages opened lower on Friday, rallied midday but sank into the red by the close.

The Dow tumbled 127.89 points or 0.38 percent to finish at 33,926.01, while the NASDAQ plunged 193.84 points or 1.59 percent to close at 12,006.96 and the S&P 500 sank 43.28 points or 1.04 percent to end at 4,136.48.

For the week, the NASDAQ surged 3.3 percent, the S&P 500 climbed 1.6 percent and the Dow dipped 0.2 percent.

The weakness on Wall Street reflected renewed concerns about the outlook for interest rates following the release of much stronger than expected jobs data.

While the report points to continued strength in the labor market, the data has led to concerns the Federal Reserve will raise interest rates higher than currently anticipated.

Crude oil prices fell sharply Friday amid concerns about the outlook for fuel demand, with investors weighing the prospects of a recession - while a stronger dollar also weighed. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for March ended lower by $2.49 or 3.3 percent at $73.39 a barrel.