Lower Open Predicted For Hong Kong Stock Market

(RTTNews) - The Hong Kong stock market turned lower again on Wednesday, one day after ending the three-day slide in which it had plummeted more than 840 points or 3.8 percent. The Hang Seng Index now sits just above the 21,280-point plateau and it's expected to open under pressure again on Thursday.

The global forecast for the Asian markets is mixed to lower on concerns over the outlook for interest rates. The European markets were mixed and the U.S. bourses were down and the Asian markets figure to split the difference.

The Hang Seng finished slightly lower on Wednesday following mixed performances from the property stocks and technology companies.

For the day, the index dipped 15.18 points or 0.07 percent to finish at 21,283.52 after trading between 21,178.87 and 21,443.48.

Among the actives, Alibaba Group retreated 1.24 percent, while Alibaba Health Info plunged 3.63 percent, ANTA Sports and CLP Holdings both improved 0.35 percent, China Life Insurance and Nongfu Spring both gained 0.45 percent, China Mengniu Dairy advanced 1.07 percent, China Resources Land rallied 1.80 percent, CITIC soared 2.34 percent, CNOOC strengthened 1.40 percent, Country Garden tumbled 2.02 percent, CSPC Pharmaceutical spiked 2.06 percent, Galaxy Entertainment sank 0.28 percent, Hang Lung Properties eased 0.13 percent, Henderson Land perked 0.17 percent, Hong Kong & China Gas added 0.52 percent, Industrial and Commercial Bank of China collected 0.74 percent, JD.com declined 1.53 percent, Lenovo surged 3.62 percent, Li Ning fell 0.14 percent, Meituan plummeted 6.48 percent, New World Development jumped 1.91 percent, Techtronic Industries rose 0.29 percent, Xiaomi Corporation tanked 2.96 percent and WuXi Biologics climbed 1.16 percent.

The lead from Wall Street is negative as the major averages opened lower on Wednesday and remained in the red throughout the session.

The Dow tumbled 207.68 points or 0.61 percent to finish at 33,949.01, while the NASDAQ plunged 203.27 points or 1.68 percent to close at 11,910.52 and the S&P 500 sank 46.14 points or 1.11 percent to end at 4,117.86.

The pullback on Wall Street came as some traders looked to cash in Tuesday's gains, which came amid a positive reaction to comments by Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell.

Powell acknowledged recent indications of easing inflation but noted that the disinflationary process has a long way to go and cautioned further interest rate hikes could be needed.

The positive sentiment generated in reaction to Powell's comments was partly offset by remarks by New York Fed President John Williams, who said interest rates may need to be kept at an elevated level for a few years to bring down inflation.

Crude oil futures settled higher on Wednesday, extending gains to a third straight session amid hopes of higher demand from China. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for March ended higher by $1.33 or 1.7 percent at $78.47 a barrel.