More Profit Taking Expected For Hong Kong Shares

(RTTNews) - The Hong Kong stock market on Wednesday ended the three-day winning streak in which it had skyrocketed more than 2,325 points or 14.1 percent. The Hang Seng Index now rests just above the 18,250-point plateau and it may see continued consolidation on Thursday.

The global forecast for the Asian markets is negative, with technology, semiconductor and oil stocks expected to weigh. The European and U.S. markets were down and the Asian bourses are expected to open in similar fashion.

The Hang Seng finished modestly lower on Wednesday following mixed performances from the technology, oil and property sectors.

For the day, the index lost 86.64 points or 0.47 percent to finish at 18,256.48 after trading between 18,031.87 and 18,414.09.

Among the actives, Alibaba Group eased 0.13 percent, while Alibaba Health Info surged 3.15 percent, ANTA Sports and Galaxy Entertainment both advanced 0.97 percent, China Life Insurance surrendered 2.59 percent, China Mengniu Dairy weakened 2.25 percent, China Petroleum and Chemical (Sinopec) gained 0.29 percent, China Resources Land declined 2.51 percent, CITIC retreated 2.50 percent, CNOOC lost 0.38 percent, Country Garden plummeted 12.97 percent, CSPC Pharmaceutical stumbled 2.36 percent, Hang Lung Properties improved 0.91 percent, Henderson Land and Lenovo both dropped 1.03 percent, Hong Kong & China Gas shed 0.75 percent, Industrial and Commercial Bank of China sank 1.06 percent, JD.com skidded 2.12 percent, Li Ning added 0.93 percent, Longfor plunged 5.57 percent, Meituan slumped 2.46 percent, New World Development tumbled 2.60 percent, Techtronic Industries spiked 1.35 percent, Xiaomi Corporation tanked 3.12 percent and WuXi Biologics rose 0.09 percent.

The lead from Wall Street is soft as the major averages opened lower on Wednesday. The NASDAQ and the S&P 500 stayed in the red all day, while the Dow bounced back and forth across the unchanged line but also finished lower.

The Dow eased 39.09 points or 0.12 percent to finish at 33,553.83, while the NASDAQ tumbled 174.75 points or 1.54 percent to close at 11,183.66 and the S&P 500 sank 32.94 points or 0.83 percent to end at 3,958.79.

The weakness on Wall Street came as treasuries moved sharply higher, extending the upward move in the previous session and affecting technology stocks in particular.

In economic news, the Commerce Department reported a significant increase in U.S. retail sales in October. Also, the Federal Reserve noted an unexpected decline in U.S. industrial production last month. In addition, the National Association of Home Builders reported a continued decrease in U.S. homebuilder confidence in November.

Crude oil prices slipped Wednesday amid concerns about the outlook for demand and the resumption of Russian oil shipments to Hungary. Oil prices fell despite data showing a larger-than-expected drop in crude inventories in the U.S. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for December ended lower by $1.33 or 1.5 percent at $85.59 a barrel.

Closer to home, Hong Kong will release unemployment numbers for October later today; in September, the jobless rate was 3.9 percent.