Mild Upside Tipped For Hong Kong Stock Market

(RTTNews) - The Hong Kong stock market on Thursday ended the seven-day losing streak in which it had plummeted more than 920 points or 5.6 percent. The Hang Seng Index now rests just above the 16,300-point plateau and it may inch higher again on Friday.

The global forecast for the Asian markets is mixed and flat to lower following U.S. inflation data. The European markets were down and the U.S. bourses were mixed and little changed and the Asian markets figure to split the difference.

The Hang Seng finished sharply higher on Thursday following gains from the financial shares, property stocks and technology companies.

For the day, the index jumped 204.74 points or 1.27 percent to finish at 16,302.04 after trading between 16,106.83 and 16,459.92.

Among the actives, Alibaba Group rallied 2.24 percent, while Alibaba Health Info increased 0.82 percent, ANTA Sports accelerated 2.59 percent, China Life Insurance collected 1.79 percent, China Mengniu Dairy rose 0.53 percent, China Resources Land improved 0.97 percent, CITIC gathered 0.40 percent, CNOOC stumbled 1.05 percent, Country Garden gained 0.66 percent, CSPC Pharmaceutical plummeted 6.23 percent, Galaxy Entertainment advanced 0.99 percent, Hang Lung Properties jumped 1.94 percent, Henderson Land added 0.67 percent, Hong Kong & China Gas fell 0.34 percent, JD.com climbed 1.73 percent, Lenovo strengthened 1.93 percent, Li Ning perked 0.34 percent, Meituan surged 5.37 percent, New World Development soared 3.10 percent, Techtronic Industries slumped 1.02 percent, Xiaomi Corporation spiked 2.70 percent, WuXi Biologics skyrocketed 8.75 percent and Industrial and Commercial Bank of China and Haier Smart Home were unchanged.

The lead from Wall Street offers little clarity as the major averages opened slightly higher on Thursday but quickly plummeted deep into the red before rallying to finish mixed and flat.

The Dow rose 15.29 points or 0.04 percent to finish at 37,711.02, while the NASDAQ perked 0.54 points or 0.00 percent to close at 14,970.18 and the S&P 500 slipped 3.21 points or 0.07 percent to end at 4,780.24.

The early downturn on Wall Street came as traders digested the Labor Department's highly anticipated report on consumer price inflation in December, which showed prices rose slightly more than expected.

A number of economists have said the data makes the Federal Reserve less likely to cut interest rates in March, with many predicting the central bank will hold off until its May meeting.

The late-day recovery attempt on Wall Street also came as treasury yields showed a notable move to the downside after showing a lack of direction for much of the day.

Oil futures settled higher on Thursday as prices rebounded on likely disruptions in trade and supplies after Iran seized a tanker with Iraqi crude marked for delivery to Turkey. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for February ended higher by $0.65 at $72.02 a barrel.