Mild Upside Seen For Hong Kong Stock Market

(RTTNews) - The Hong Kong stock market has finished lower in two straight sessions, sinking more than 740 points or 2.8 percent along the way. The Hang Seng Index now sits just above the 25,230-point plateau although it may tick higher on Wednesday.

The global forecast for the Asian markets offers little clarity, although any lack of general support should be limited by support from the technology shares. The European markets were soft and the U.S. bourses were mixed and little changed and the Asian markets figure to split the difference.

The Hang Seng finished sharply lower on Tuesday with damage across the board, especially among the financial shares, property stocks and technology companies.

For the day, the index stumbled 393.47 points or 1.54 percent to finish at 25,235.41 after trading between 25,086.54 and 25,547.92.

Among the actives, Alibaba Group crashed 2.96 percent, while Alibaba Health Info skidded 1.53 percent, ANTA Sports shed 0.55 percent, China Life Insurance cratered 4.13 percent, China Mengniu Dairy and CLP Holdings both eased 0.07 percent, China Resources Land tanked 2.29 percent, CITIC contracted 1.96 percent, CNOOC plummeted 2.32 percent, CSPC Pharmaceutical tumbled 2.00 percent, Galaxy Entertainment slumped 1.77 percent, Haier Smart Home retreated 1.95 percent, Hang Lung Properties slipped 0.22 percent, Henderson Land added 0.34 percent, Hong Kong & China Gas lost 0.42 percent, Industrial and Commercial Bank of China weakened 1.81 percent, JD.com plunged 2.29 percent, Lenovo climbed 1.05 percent, Li Auto surrendered 2.13 percent, Li Ning declined 1.88 percent, Meituan dropped 1.39 percent, New World Development advanced 0.99 percent, Nongfu Spring fell 0.40 percent, Techtronic Industries gained 0.27 percent, Xiaomi Corporation stumbled 2.25 percent and WuXi Biologics sank 1.17 percent.

The lead from Wall Street is weak as the major averages hugged the line from below for most of the day, although the NASDAQ managed to break into the green.

The Dow slumped 302.30 points or 0.62 percent to finish at 48,114.26, while the NASDAQ added 54.05 points or 0.23 percent to close at 23,111.46 and the S&P 500 slipped 16.25 points or 0.24 percent to end at 6,800.26.

The choppy trading on Wall Street followed the release of the Labor Department's report on employment in November.

Most economists said the data has increased the likelihood the Federal Reserve will continue cutting interest rates in the near future, but the report also raised concerns about the strength of the economy.

A separate report released by the Commerce Department showed retail sales in the U.S. were roughly flat in October.

Crude oil prices extended recent losses Tuesday on lingering oversupply concerns, especially if an end to hostilities between Russia and Ukraine could exacerbate the supply glut. West Texas Intermediate crude for January delivery was down $1.57 or 2.8 percent to $55.25 per barrel.