Lower Open Predicted For Hong Kong Stock Market

(RTTNews) - The Hong Kong stock market on Wednesday ended the two-day winning streak in which it had picked up more than 775 points or 2.8 percent. The Hang Seng Index now rests just above the 25,780-point plateau and it's looking at another soft start again on Thursday.

The global forecast for the Asian markets is soft on concerns over relations between the United States and China, while tech shares are also likely to be weak. The European markets were mixed and the U.S. bourses were down and the Asian markets figure to follow the latter lead.

The Hang Seng finished sharply lower on Wednesday following losses from the property stocks and technology companies.

For the day, the index dropped 245.78 points or 0.94 percent to finish at 25,781.77 after trading between 25,653.75 and 25,947.88.

Among the actives, Alibaba Group surrendered 1.94 percent, while Alibaba Health Info cratered 2.12 percent, China Life Insurance tanked 2.33 percent, China Mengniu Dairy shed 0.90 percent, China Resources Land crashed 2.07 percent, CITIC slumped 1.21 percent, CNOOC rallied 0.93 percent, CSPC Pharmaceutical plummeted 5.16 percent, Galaxy Entertainment contracted 1.31 percent, Haier Smart Home jumped 1.30 percent, Hang Lung Properties stumbled 1.80 percent, Henderson Land lost 0.87 percent, Hong Kong & China Gas skidded 0.97 percent, Industrial and Commercial Bank of China collected 0.17 percent, JD.com declined 1.40 percent, Lenovo plunged 2.95 percent, Li Auto sank 0.92 percent, Li Ning eased 0.17 percent, Meituan slipped 0.41 percent, New World Development retreated 1.44 percent, Nongfu Spring tumbled 1.45 percent, Techtronic Industries dropped 0.93 percent, Xiaomi Corporation dipped 0.26 percent, WuXi Biologics fell 0.56 percent and ANTA Sports was unchanged.

The lead from Wall Street is weak as the major averages opened flat but gradually turned lower as the day progressed and finished solidly under water.

The Dow stumbled 334.33 points or 0.71 percent to finish at 46,590.41, while the NASDAQ sank 213.27 points or 0.93 percent to end at 22,740.40 and the S&P 500 slumped 35.95 points or 0.53 percent to close at 6,699.40.

The slump by the tech-heavy NASDAQ was partly due to a steep drop by shares of Netflix (NFLX) and Texas Instruments (TXN) after disappointing earnings news.

The major averages fell to their lows of the session following reports that the Trump administration is considering a plan to curb an array of software-powered exports to China.

Crude oil prices surged on Wednesday on news that the proposed U.S.-Russia summit to discuss the Russia-Ukraine war has been shelved. West Texas Intermediate crude for December delivery was up $1.28 or 2.24 percent at $58.52 per barrel.

Closer to home, Hong Kong will provide September data for consumer prices later today; in August, inflation was up 0.1 percent on month and 1.1 percent on year.