Oversold Hang Seng May Find Traction On Wednesday

(RTTNews) - The Hong Kong stock market has moved lower in four straight trading days, stumbling almost 900 points or 5.5 percent along the way. The Hang Seng Index now sits just beneath the 16,250-point plateau although it's likely to see some bargain hunting on Wednesday.

The global forecast for the Asian markets suggests little movement, with bargain hunting pitted against interest rate concerns. The European markets were down and the U.S. bourses were mixed and flat and the Asian markets figure to follow the latter lead.

The Hang Seng finished sharply lower on Tuesday with losses in all sectors, especially among the property and technology companies.

For the day, the index plummeted 351.49 points or 2.12 percent to finish at 16,248.97 after trading between 16,208.64 and 16,449.24.

Among the actives, Alibaba Group slumped 2.77 percent, while Alibaba Health Info tumbled 3.68 percent, ANTA Sports weakened 2.58 percent, China Life Insurance slid 1.68 percent, China Mengniu Dairy dropped 2.53 percent, China Resources Land was down 0.86 percent, CITIC fell 1.87 percent, CNOOC and CK Infrastructure both lost 1.96 percent, Country Garden sank 2.44 percent, CSPC Pharmaceutical dipped 1.02 percent, Galaxy Entertainment plummeted 4.91 percent, Hang Lung Properties gave up 0.50 percent, Henderson Land slipped 1.07 percent, Hong Kong & China Gas skidded 2.57 percent, Industrial and Commercial Bank of China gave away 0.74 percent, JD.com shed 2.32 percent, Lenovo surrendered 3.86 percent, Li Ning retreated 3.64 percent, Meituan stumbled 2.85 percent, New World Development eased 0.63 percent, Techtronic Industries plunged 4.40 percent, Xiaomi Corporation declined 3.63 percent and WuXi Biologics tanked 3.98 percent.

The lead from Wall Street offers little guidance as the major averages opened mixed on Tuesday and, after some volatility, ended on opposite sides of the line and little changed.

The Dow added 63.86 points or 0.17 percent to finish at 37,798.97, while the NASDAQ shed 19.77 points or 0.12 percent to close at 15,865.25 and the S&P 500 sank 10.41 points or 0.21 percent to end at 5,051.41.

The lack of direction shown by the markets came as traders weighed the idea of picking up stocks at relatively reduced levels against concerns about the outlook for interest rates.

The yield on the benchmark ten-year note reached its highest intraday levels in almost six months after the Federal Reserve released a report showing a continued increase in U.S. industrial production in the month of March.

Adding to the rate worries, Fed Chair Jerome Powell indicated in remarks that rates are likely to remain higher for longer amid a "lack of progress" toward reaching the central bank's inflation goal.

Crude oil showed a lack of direction on Tuesday before easing slightly as Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen indicated the U.S. plans to impose new sanctions on Iran in response to the country's attack on Israel. West Texas Intermediate crude for May delivery dipped $0.05 or 0.1 percent to $85.36 a barrel.