Losing Streak May Continue For Hong Kong Stock Market

(RTTNews) - The Hong Kong stock market has tracked lower in two straight sessions, sinking more than 220 points or 1.1 percent along the way. The Hang Seng Index now rests just shy of the 19,950-point plateau and it may take further damage on Wednesday.

The global forecast for the Asian markets is soft thanks to ongoing concerns over the economy and 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 modestly lower on Tuesday as losses from the financials and technology stocks were mitigated by support from the property sector.

For the day, the index dropped 74.19 points or 0.37 percent to finish at 19,949.03 after trading between 19,645.57 and 20,062.73.

Among the actives, Alibaba Group perked 0.05 percent, while Alibaba Health Info plunged 2.65 percent, ANTA Sports tumbled 1.68 percent, China Life Insurance eased 0.18 percent, China Mengniu Dairy surrendered 1.66 percent, China Petroleum and Chemical (Sinopec) fell 0.27 percent, China Resources Land collected 0.31 percent, CITIC climbed 1.11 percent, CNOOC rose 0.18 percent, Country Garden plummeted 3.31 percent, CSPC Pharmaceutical weakened 1.27 percent, Galaxy Entertainment lost 0.46 percent, Henderson Land gained 0.38 percent, Hong Kong & China Gas dropped 0.76 percent, Industrial and Commercial Bank of China slid 0.25 percent, JD.com advanced 0.82 percent, Lenovo retreated 1.37 percent, Li Ning declined 1.42 percent, Longfor tanked 2.31 percent, Meituan skidded 0.91 percent, New World Development added 0.39 percent, Techtronic Industries spiked 2.92 percent, Xiaomi Corporation sank 0.53 percent, WuXi Biologics slumped 1.34 percent and Hang Lung Properties was unchanged.

The lead from Wall Street is negative as the major averages shook off early support on Tuesday, quickly heading south and remaining in the red for the rest of the session.

The Dow tumbled 308.12 points or 0.96 percent to finish at 31,790.87, while the NASDAQ dropped 134.53 points or 1.12 percent to close at 11,883.14 and the S&P 500 sank 44.45 points or 1.10 percent to end at 3,986.16.

The extended sell-off reflected lingering concerns about the outlook for interest rates and the impact further rate hikes will have on the economy.

Stocks have been under pressure since Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell said last Friday that the central bank plans to continue aggressively raising interest rates. Powell suggested that even after the Fed finishes tightening monetary policy, rates will remain at higher levels to ensure inflation remains contained.

In economic news, the Conference Board said that consumer confidence rebounded by more than expected in August. Also, the Labor Department said the number of job openings was little changed at 11.2 million on the last business day of July.

The price of crude oil showed a substantial move to the downside during trading on Tuesday amid concerns higher interest rates will lead to a global economic slowdown, reducing energy demand. West Texas Intermediate crude for October delivery plunged $5.37 or 5 percent to $91.64 a barrel.

Closer to home, Hong Kong will release July data for retail sales later today; in June, sales fell 4.1 percent on year.