Lower Open Anticipated For Hong Kong Shares

(RTTNews) - The Hong Kong stock market on Wednesday ended the four-day losing streak in which it had fallen more than 480 points or 1.7 percent. The Hang Seng Index now rests just above the 25,165-point plateau although it may open under water on Thursday.

The global forecast for the Asian markets is weak, with technology stocks expected to continue to weigh. The European and U.S. markets were mostly lower and the Asian markets are expected to follow that lead.

The Hang Seng finished slightly higher on Wednesday following gains from the financials and technology stocks, while the property sector was mixed.

For the day, the index added 43.04 points or 0.17 percent to finish at 25,165.94 after trading between 24,887.93 and 25,210.90.

Among the actives, Alibaba Group shed 0.68 percent, while Alibaba Health Info sank 0.74 percent, ANTA Sports advanced 0.87 percent, China Life Insurance accelerated 1.48 percent, China Mengniu Dairy soared 1.96 percent, China Resources Land gained 0.19 percent, CITIC rallied 1.05 percent, CNOOC increased 0.48 percent, CSPC Pharmaceutical stumbled 2.73 percent, Galaxy Entertainment dipped 0.25 percent, Haier Smart Home dropped 0.79 percent, Hang Lung Properties climbed 0.89 percent, Henderson Land improved 0.74 percent, Industrial and Commercial Bank of China collected 0.85 percent, JD.com lost 0.65 percent, Lenovo rose 0.18 percent, Li Auto slumped 1.44 percent, Li Ning fell 0.54 percent, New World Development spiked 1.77 percent, Nongfu Spring perked 0.17 percent, Xiaomi Corporation added 0.29 percent, WuXi Biologics surged 2.82 percent and Meituan, Techtronic Industries, Hong Kong & China Gas, CLP Holdings and CKI Holdings were unchanged.

The lead from Wall Street continues to be soft as the major averages spent most of Wednesday in the red and finally finished mixed and little changed.

The Dow rose 16.04 points or 0.04 percent to finish at 44,938.31, while the NASDAQ sank 142.09 points or 0.67 percent to end at 21,172.86 and the S&P 500 fell 15.59 points or 0.24 percent to close at 6,395.78.

The early weakness on Wall Street reflected an extended sell-off by technology stocks following reports indicating the Trump administration is looking into the federal government taking equity stakes in computer chip manufacturers.

Traders may also have been reluctant to make significant moves ahead of Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell's highly anticipated speech at the Jackson Hole Economic Symposium on Friday.

Powell's remarks could have a significant impact on the outlook for interest rates ahead of the Fed's next monetary policy meeting in September. CME Group's FedWatch Tool is currently indicating an 82.9 percent chance the Fed will lower rates by a quarter point next month.

Crude oil prices moved higher on Wednesday after the Energy Information Administration said crude oil inventories in the U.S. decreased much more than expected last week. West Texas Intermediate crude for September delivery was up $0.79 or 1.3 percent at $63.14 a barrel.

Closer to home, Hong Kong will provide July figures for consumer prices later today; in June, overall inflation was flat on month and up 1.4 percent on year.