Losing Streak May Continue For Hong Kong Stock Market

(RTTNews) - The Hong Kong stock market has finished lower in back-to-back sessions, sinking more than 300 points or 1.3 percent along the way. The Hang Seng Index now sits just shy of the 23,920-point plateau and it's tipped to open to the downside again on Monday.

The global forecast for the Asian markets is soft thanks to ongoing tariff concerns. The European markets were down and the U.S. bourses were closed for the July 4 holiday, and the Asian markets also figure to open in the red.

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

For the day, the index dropped 153.84 points or 0.64 percent to finish at 23,916.06 after trading between 23,690.94 and 24,068.51.

Among the actives, Alibaba Group declined 1.04 percent, while Alibaba Health Info plummeted 6.64 percent, ANTA Sports sank 0.81 percent, China Life Insurance slid 0.22 percent, China Mengniu Dairy surrendered 2.30 percent, China Resources Land and ENN Energy Holdings both climbed 1.10 percent, CITIC skidded 0.93 percent, CNOOC eased 0.11 percent, CSPC Pharmaceutical tumbled 1.09 percent, Galaxy Entertainment added 0.41 percent, Haier Smart Home lost 0.42 percent, Hang Lung Properties gained 0.39 percent, Henderson Land fell 0.34 percent, Hong Kong & China Gas dipped 0.15 percent, Industrial and Commercial Bank of China rallied 0.66 percent, JD.com dropped 0.88 percent, Lenovo shed 0.72 percent, Li Auto advanced 0.58 percent, Li Ning stumbled 2.09 percent, Meituan retreated 1.63 percent, New World Development plunged 4.01 percent, Nongfu Spring was down 0.12 percent, Techtronic Industries tanked 3.11 percent, Xiaomi Corporation slumped 1.03 percent and WuXi Biologics surged 1.55 percent.

There is no lead from Wall Street, but the European stock markets were down amid concerns about U.S. tariffs.

With the July 9 deadline to strike deals with the U.S. just a few days away, U.S. President Donald Trump has announced that his government will send letters to trading partners outlining unilateral tariffs that will take effect on August 1.

The EU, which is pushing for an agreement in principle ahead of July 9, has acknowledged that a comprehensive deal is unlikely to be reached by the deadline.

There is also concern over Trump's "Big, Beautiful Bill," which will add at least $3.3 trillion to the country's already-mammoth national debt.

Crude oil prices slumped on Friday on easing geopolitical concerns in the Middle East. West Texas Intermediate crude for August delivery was down $0.51 or 0.76 percent to finish at $66.49 per barrel.