Rally May Stall For Hong Kong Stock Market

(RTTNews) - The Hong Kong stock market has moved higher in consecutive trading days, advancing more than 775 points or 2.8 percent along the way. The Hang Seng Index now rests just above the 26,025-point plateau although it's expected to open to the downside on Wednesday.

The global forecast for the Asian markets is murky, with optimism over earnings likely offset by profit taking. The European markets were slightly higher and the U.S. bourses were mixed and flat and the Asian markets figure to follow the latter lead.

The Hang Seng finished modestly higher on Tuesday following gains from the financials and technology stocks, while the property sector was mixed.

For the day, the index gained 168.72 points or 0.65 percent to finish at 26,027.55 after trading between 26,017.72 and 26,367.35.

Among the actives, Alibaba Group rallied 1.98 percent, while Alibaba Health Info strengthened 1.66 percent, ANTA Sports accelerated 2.10 percent, China Life Insurance skyrocketed 6.04 percent, China Mengniu Dairy sank 0.28 percent, China Resources Land advanced 1.01 percent, CITIC vaulted 1.49 percent, CNOOC climbed 1.47 percent, CSPC Pharmaceutical tumbled 1.11 percent, Galaxy Entertainment and Meituan both fell 0.16 percent, Haier Smart Home jumped 1.91 percent, Hang Lung Properties slumped 0.78 percent, Henderson Land shed 0.22 percent, Hong Kong & China Gas dropped 0.55 percent, Industrial and Commercial Bank of China collected 0.68 percent, JD.com increased 0.63 percent, Lenovo expanded 1.50 percent, Li Auto added 0.29 percent, Li Ning soared 3.32 percent, New World Development spiked 2.55 percent, Nongfu Spring improved 0.92 percent, Techtronic Industries surged 3.70 percent, Xiaomi Corporation stumbled 1.44 percent, WuXi Biologics gained 0.17 percent and ENN Energy was unchanged.

The lead from Wall Street offers little clarity as the major averages opened flat on Tuesday and hugged the line for most of the day, finally finishing on opposite sides and little changed.

The Dow gained 218.16 points or 0.47 percent to finish at a record 46,924.74, while the NASDAQ slipped 36.88 points or 0.16 percent to end at 22,953.67 and the S&P 500 perked 0.22 points or 0.00 percent to close at 6,735.35.

The advanced by the Dow reflected a positive reaction to solid earnings news from companies like 3M (MMM), Coca-Cola (KO), Salesforce (CRM), Amazon (AMZN) and Sherwin-Williams (SHW).

Traders may have been reluctant to continue buying stocks amid lingering concerns about U.S.-China trade tensions and the ongoing government shutdown.

A lack of major U.S. economic data due in part to the shutdown may also have kept some traders on the sidelines ahead of the release of closely watched consumer price inflation data on Friday.

Crude oil prices advanced on Tuesday as easing U.S.-China trade friction overrode a stronger greenback and excess supply concerns. West Texas Intermediate crude for November delivery was up $0.38 or 0.66 percent at $57.90 per barrel.