Rebound Anticipated For Hong Kong Stock Market

(RTTNews) - The Hong Kong stock market has alternated between positive and negative finishes through the last five trading days since the end of the two-day winning streak in which it had jumped more than 360 points or 1.4 percent. The Hang Seng Index now sits just beneath the 26,350-point plateau although it's expected to bounce higher again on Tuesday. The global forecast for the Asian markets continued to be mildly positive on optimism over the outlook for interest rates. The European markets were mixed and the U.S. bourses were up and the Asian markets figure to split the difference. The Hang Seng finished modestly lower on Monday following losses from the financial shares and property stocks, while the technology shares were mixed. For the day, the index sank 200.96 points or 0.76 percent to finish at 26,344.14 after trading between 26,204.01 and 26,479.14. Among the actives, Alibaba Group perked 0.06 percent, while Alibaba Health Info slipped 1.14 percent, ANTA Sports slumped 2.22 percent, China Life Insurance tumbled 3.05 percent, China Mengniu Dairy lost 1.31 percent, China Resources Land retreated 2.41 percent, CITIC plummeted 4.72 percent, CNOOC fell 1.24 percent, Galaxy Entertainment was down 1.18 percent, Haier Smart Home tanked 2.52 percent, Hang Lung Properties shed 1.35 percent, Henderson Land skidded 1.77 percent, Hong Kong & China Gas dropped 1.60 percent, Industrial and Commercial Bank of China declined 2.38 percent, JD.com stumbled 3.31 percent, Lenovo jumped 1.50 percent, Li Auto dipped 1.14 percent, Li Ning added 0.45 percent, Meituan contracted 2.26 percent, New World Development advanced 0.72 percent, Nongfu Spring sank 1.38 percent, Techtronic Industries plunged 4.03 percent, Xiaomi Corporation slid 1.06 percent, WuXi Biologics surged 6.09 percent and CSPC Pharmaceutical was unchanged.

The lead from Wall Street is mildly positive as the major averages opened in the red on Monday but quickly bounced higher and continued to trend that way throughout the session, ending near daily highs.

The Dow added 66.27 points or 0.14 percent to finish at 46,381.54, while the NASDAQ jumped 157.50 points or 0.70 percent to close at 22,788.98 and the S&P 500 gained 29.39 points or 0.44 percent to end at 6,693.75.

Profit taking contributed to the initial weakness on Wall Street, with some traders looking to cash in on the recent strength in the markets.

Selling pressure waned shortly after the start of trading, however, as traders remain optimistic about the outlook for the markets amid expectations of further interest rate cuts by the Federal Reserve.

After cutting rates by a quarter point last Wednesday, the Fed is widely expected to lower rates by another quarter at each of its next two meetings in October and December.

Crude oil was little changed on Monday amid lingering oversupply concerns after OPEC agreed earlier this month to boost production starting in October. West Texas Intermediate crude for October delivery was up $0.05 or 0.08 percent at $62.73 per barrel.