Lower Open Anticipated For Hong Kong Stock Market

(RTTNews) - The Hong Kong stock market has alternated between positive and negative finishes through the last five trading days since the end of the two-day winning streak in which it had rallied almost 500 points or 2.2 percent. The Hang Seng Index now sits just beneath the 23,260-point plateau and it's tipped to open under pressure again on Thursday.

The global forecast for the Asian markets is soft amid continued uncertainty over U.S. trade policies. The European and U.S. markets were down and the Asian bourses figure to open in similar fashion.

The Hang Seng finished modestly lower on Wednesday following losses from the technology stocks and a mixed picture from the financials and properties.

For the day, the index slumped 123.68 points or 0.53 percent to finish at 23,258.31 after trading between 23,180.17 and 23,476.22.

Among the actives, Alibaba Group tanked 1.95 percent, while Alibaba Health Info soared 2.22 percent, ANTA Sports climbed 1.06 percent, China Life Insurance sank 0.37 percent, China Mengniu Dairy spiked 2.05 percent, China Resources Land eased 0.20 percent, CNOOC advanced 0.78 percent, CSPC Pharmaceutical slumped 1.16 percent, Galaxy Entertainment jumped 1.36 percent, Haier Smart Home added 0.66 percent, Hang Lung Properties rose 0.32 percent, Henderson Land skidded 0.61 percent, Hong Kong & China Gas perked 0.29 percent, Industrial and Commercial Bank of China collected 0.35 percent, JD.com retreated 1.40 percent, Lenovo stumbled 1.82 percent, Li Auto plunged 2.51 percent, Li Ning rallied 1.45 percent, Meituan dropped 0.53 percent, New World Development fell 0.22 percent, Nongfu Spring surged 3.15 percent, Techtronic Industries improved 0.73 percent, Xiaomi Corporation gained 0.39 percent, WuXi Biologics declined 1.27 percent and CITIC was unchanged.

The lead from Wall Street is soft as the major averages shook off a mildly positive open and headed south through the balance of the session, ending at daily lows.

The Dow dropped 244.95 points or 0.58 percent to finish at 42,098.70, while the NASDAQ sank 98.23 points or 0.51 percent to close at 19,100.94 and the S&P 500 slumped 32.99 points or 0.56 percent to end at 5,888.55.

The choppy trading came as traders seemed reluctant to make significant moves ahead of the release of earnings news from AI darling and market leader Nvidia (NVDA) after Wednesday's close.

The earnings news after the bell showed that Nvidia beat the street on earnings and revenue, possibly lending support to technology shares going forward.

Lingering uncertainty about President Donald Trump's trade policies also kept some traders on the sidelines following recent volatility.

Crude oil prices moved sharply higher on Wednesday on news that OPEC will establish output quotas for 2027. West Texas Intermediate crude for July delivery climbed $0.87 or 1.43 percent to $61.76 per barrel.