Renewed Consolidation Predicted For Hong Kong Shares

(RTTNews) - The Hong Kong stock market bounced higher again on Tuesday, one day after halting the two-day winning streak in which it had gathered more than 170 points or 0.9 percent. The Hang Seng Index now sits just beneath the 18,000-point plateau although it figures to head south again on Wednesday.

The global forecast for the Asian markets is one of caution ahead of the Federal Reserve's rate decision and statement later today. The European markets were mixed and the U.S. bourses were down and the Asian markets figure to split the difference.

The Hang Seng finished modestly higher on Tuesday as the financials, properties and technology stocks were mostly in the green.

For the day, the index gained 66.62 points or 0.37 percent to finish at 17,997.17 after trading between 17,832.30 and 18,004.74.

Among the actives, Alibaba Group advanced 0.71 percent, while Alibaba Health Info soared 2.84 percent, ANTA Sports added 0.44 percent, China Life Insurance collected 0.83 percent, China Mengniu Dairy retreated 1.31 percent, China Resources Land improved 0.62 percent, CITIC jumped 1.34 percent, CNOOC rose 0.29 percent, Country Garden plummeted 3.50 percent, CSPC Pharmaceutical slumped 0.84 percent, ENN Energy skyrocketed 5.59 percent, Galaxy Entertainment fell 0.19 percent, Hang Lung Properties climbed 0.97 percent, Henderson Land increased 0.25 percent, Hong Kong & China Gas rallied 1.09 percent, Industrial and Commercial Bank of China spiked 1.87 percent, JD.com declined 1.16 percent, Lenovo gained 0.38 percent, Li Ning tumbled 1.68 percent, Meituan lost 0.25 percent, New World Development dropped 0.77 percent, Techtronic Industries surged 4.08 percent, Xiaomi Corporation perked 0.17 percent, WuXi Biologics sank 0.46 percent and CK Infrastructure was unchanged.

The lead from Wall Street is weak as the major averages opened flat, tumbled early and then saw a late recovery to finish with only modest losses.

The Dow shed 106.57 points or 0.31 percent to finish at 34,517.73, while the NASDAQ lost 32.05 points or 0.23 percent to close at 13,678.19 and the S&P 500 fell 9.58 points or 0.22 percent to end at 4,443.95.

The weakness on Wall Street came as traders remained on edge ahead of the Federal Reserve's monetary policy announcement later today.

While the Fed is widely expected to leave interest rates unchanged, traders will pay close attention to the accompanying statement and the central bank's projections for clues about the outlook for rates.

Negative sentiment may also have been generated by a Commerce Department report showing a sharp pullback in U.S. housing starts in August. Also, the Commerce Department said building permits surged more than expected in August.

Crude oil futures settled lower on Tuesday after posting gains in the three previous sessions to touch a 10-month high. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for October ended lower by $0.28 or 0.3 percent at $91.20 a barrel.