Lower Open Anticipated For Hong Kong Stock Market

(RTTNews) - The Hong Kong stock market has alternated between positive and negative finishes through the last four trading days since the end of the two-day slide in which it had tumbled more than 640 points or 2.6 percent. The Hang Seng Index now sits just beneath the 25,630-point plateau and it's expected to open under pressure again on Tuesday.

The global forecast for the Asian markets is flat to lower, with weakness from the technology and oil sectors limiting the upside. The European markets were up and the U.S. bourses were down and the Asian markets figure to split the difference.

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

For the day, the index dropped 347.91 points or 1.34 percent to finish at 25,628.88 after trading between 25,609.28 and 25,824.44.

Among the actives, Alibaba Group plunged 3.57 percent, while Alibaba Health Info declined 2.06 percent, ANTA Sports gained 0.37 percent, China Life Insurance advanced 0.92 percent, China Mengniu Dairy rallied 1.71 percent, China Resources Land fell 1.06 percent, CITIC eased 0.16 percent, CNOOC slipped 0.96 percent, CSPC Pharmaceutical slumped 1.96 percent, Galaxy Entertainment dropped 1.49 percent, Haier Smart Home added 0.68 percent, Hang Lung Properties retreated 2.29 percent, Henderson Land lost 1.36 percent, Hong Kong & China Gas skidded 1.67 percent, Industrial and Commercial Bank of China slid 0.81 percent, JD.com weakened 1.82 percent, Lenovo shed 1.44 percent, Li Auto stumbled 2.89 percent, Li Ning surged 5.43 percent, Meituan sank 1.46 percent, New World Development surrendered 3.03 percent, Nongfu Spring plummeted 3.88 percent, Techtronic Industries tumbled 2.82 percent, Xiaomi Corporation contracted 2.61 percent, WuXi Biologics tanked 3.11 percent and Hengan International was unchanged.

The lead from Wall Street is weak as the major averages opened slightly higher on Monday but quickly slipped under water and spent the balance of the day hugging the line from below.

The Dow slumped 41.49 points or 0.09 percent to finish at 48,416.56, while the NASDAQ dropped 137.76 points or 0.59 percent to end at 23,057.41 and the S&P 500 sank 10.90 points or 0.16 percent to close at 6,816.51.

The weakness that emerged on Wall Street came on continued uncertainty about AI spending and the possibility of a tech bubble.

Traders were also reluctant to make significant moves ahead of the release of some key U.S. economic data in the coming days, including retail sales and inflation.

The data could impact the outlook for interest rates following the Federal Reserve's monetary policy announcement last Wednesday. While the Fed cut rates by another quarter point, as widely expected, officials' projections showed significant differences of opinion about further rate cuts.

The price of crude oil retreated on Monday as lingering oversupply concerns offset worries about potential supply disruptions. West Texas Intermediate crude for January delivery was down $0.62 or 1.1 percent to $56.82 per barrel.