Positive Bounce Expected For Hong Kong Stock Market

(RTTNews) - The Hong Kong stock market on Tuesday ended the two-day winning streak in which it had climbed more than 1,250 points or 8 percent. The Hang Seng Index now rests just above the 16,550-point plateau although it's expected to move higher again on Wednesday.

The global forecast for the Asian markets is upbeat on continued optimism over the outlook for interest rates. The European and U.S. markets finished higher and the Asian bourses are expected to open in similar fashion.

The Hang Seng finished slightly lower on Tuesday following mixed performances from the properties and technology stocks, while the oil companies offered support.

For the day, the index lost 38.60 points or 0.23 percent to finish at 16,557.31 after trading between 16,429.81 and 16,719.01.

Among the actives, Alibaba Group plummeted 3.73 percent, while Alibaba Health Info retreated 0.71 percent, ANTA Sports skidded 0.50 percent, China Life Insurance eased 0.10 percent, China Mengniu Dairy jumped 0.83 percent, China Petroleum and Chemical (Sinopec) added 0.60 percent, China Resources Land tanked 1.79 percent, CITIC rallied 0.81 percent, CNOOC gained 0.59 percent, Country Garden tumbled 1.52 percent, CSPC Pharmaceutical declined 0.63 percent, Galaxy Entertainment surged 2.71 percent, Hang Lung Properties soared 2.53 percent, Henderson Land spiked 1.18 percent, Hong Kong & China Gas was up 0.16 percent, Industrial and Commercial Bank of China collected 0.28 percent, JD.com advanced 0.68 percent, Lenovo improved 0.79 percent, Li Ning lost 0.19 percent, Longfor slumped 0.59 percent, Meituan plunged 2.75 percent, New World Development fell 0.12 percent, Techtronic Industries rose 0.55 percent, Xiaomi Corporation sank 0.39 percent and WuXi Biologics dropped 0.43 percent.

The lead from Wall Street is positive as the major averages accelerated Tuesday morning, faded in the afternoon but steadied going into the close.

The Dow surged 333.83 points or 1.02 percent to finish at 33,160.83, while the NASDAQ advanced 51.68 points or 0.49 percent to end at 10,616.20 and the S&P 500 gained 21.31 points or 0.56 percent to close at 3,828.11.

The higher close on Wall Street reflected recent upward momentum, with the major averages adding to the strong gains posted Monday and last Friday to further offset last week's pullback.

The continued strength also came as traders awaited the outcome of Tuesday's U.S. midterm elections, which will determine control of Congress.

The early afternoon pullback by stocks coincided with a steep drop by Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies, which followed news Binance, the world's largest cryptocurrency exchange, reached a deal to buy competitor FTX.

Crude oil prices drifted lower on Tuesday as reports showing a surge in COVID-19 cases in China raised concerns about the outlook for energy demand. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for December ended lower by $2.88 or 3.1 percent at $88.91 a barrel.