Oversold Hang Seng Called Lower Again On Wednesday

(RTTNews) - The Hong Kong stock market has finished lower in three straight sessions, retreating more than 650 points or 3.4 percent in that span. The Hang Seng Index now sits just above the 18,580-point plateau and it's predicted to open lower again on Wednesday.

The global forecast for the Asian markets is soft on concerns about economic outlook and expectations for interest rates. The Eruopean and U.S. markets were solidly lower and the Asian markets are expected to follow suit.

The Hang Seng finished sharply lower on Tuesday following losses from the financial shares, property stocks and oil companies, while the technology shares were mixed.

For the day, the index stumbled 192.44 points or 1.03 percent to finish at 18,581.11 after trading between 18,513.78 and 18,745.82.

Among the actives, Alibaba Group stumbled 1.72 percent, while Alibaba Health Info added 0.38 percent, ANTA Sports dropped 1.01 percent, China Life Insurance sank 0.98 percent, China Mengniu Dairy declined 1.71 percent, China Resources Land plunged 2.70 percent, CITIC eased 0.13 percent, CNOOC retreated 1.54 percent, Country Garden surged 3.56 percent, CSPC Pharmaceutical rose 0.17 percent, Galaxy Entertainment and Meituan both skidded 1.11 percent, Hang Lung Properties tanked 2.26 percent, Henderson Land plummeted 2.88 percent, Hong Kong & China Gas shed 0.64 percent, Industrial and Commercial Bank of China fell 0.57 percent, JD.com slumped 1.39 percent, Li Ning tumbled 1.91 percent, New World Development lost 0.58 percent, Techtronic Industries soared 2.15 percent, Xiaomi Corporation improved 0.68 percent, WuXi Biologics surrendered 2.00 percent and Lenovo was unchanged.

The lead from Wall Street is weak as the major averages opened sharply lower on Tuesday and remained in the red throughout the trading day.

The Dow tumbled 361.24 points or 1.02 percent to finish at 34,946.39, while the NASDAQ slumped 157.28 points or 1.14 percent to close at 13,631.05 and the S&P 500 sank 51.86 points or 1.16 percent to end at 4,437.86.

Worries about the health of the Chinese economy, and concerns that the Federal Reserve will hold interest rates higher for a longer time to contain inflation weigh on sentiment.

A warning from Fitch that it may have to downgrade credit ratings of several banks, including JP Morgan, is hurting as well.

Oil prices fell sharply Tuesday on concerns about the outlook for energy demand following a batch of weak economic data from China. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for September sank $1.52 or 1.8 percent at $80.99 a barrel.