Renewed Support Anticipated For Hong Kong Stock Market

(RTTNews) - The Hong Kong stock market turned lower again on Thursday, one day after snapping the two-day losing streak in which it had tumbled more than 840 points or 4 percent. The Hang Seng Index now sits just beneath the 21,960-point plateau although it's expected to open higher again on Friday.

The global forecast for the Asian markets is mixed to higher, fueled by gains from the technology stocks. The European markets were up and the U.S. bourses were mixed and the Asian markets figure to split the difference.

The Hang Seng finished modestly lower on Thursday following losses from the financials and oil companies, while the property and technology stocks were mixed.

For the day, the index lost 113.82 points or 0.52 percent to finish at 21,958.36 after trading between 21,930.53 and 22,311.96.

Among the actives, Alibaba Group skidded 0.91 percent, while Alibaba Health Info plunged 3.12 percent, ANTA Sports dropped 0.76 percent, China Life Insurance tumbled 2.08 percent, China Mengniu Dairy spiked 1.54 percent, China Resources Land tanked 2.88 percent, CITIC shed 0.65 percent, CNOOC lost 0.52 percent, Country Garden plummeted 5.99 percent, CSPC Pharmaceutical and Xiaomi Corporation both rallied 1.33 percent, Galaxy Entertainment declined 1.86 percent, Hang Lung Properties surged 2.77 percent, Henderson Land gained 0.52 percent, Hong Kong & China Gas dipped 0.13 percent, Industrial and Commercial Bank of China fell 0.48 percent, JD.com sank 0.67 percent, Lenovo added 0.63 percent, Li Ning retreated 1.10 percent, Meituan surrendered 1.94 percent, New World Development jumped 1.05 percent, Techtronic Industries advanced 0.66 percent and WuXi Biologics soared 1.57 percent.

The lead from Wall Street is a dichotomy as the Dow opened sharply lower on Thursday and remained in the red throughout, while the NASDAQ and S&P opened higher and stayed solidly in the green.

The Dow dipped 39.02 points or 0.11 percent to finish at 34,053.94, while the NASDAQ surged 384.50 points or 3.25 percent to end at 12,200.82 and the S&P 500 soared 60.55 points or 1.47 percent to end at 4,179.76.

The surge by the NASDAQ came as Meta Platforms (META) led a tech sector rally, with the Facebook parent skyrocketing by 23.3 percent to a nearly eight-month closing high after reporting better than expected Q4 revenues.

Stocks also continued to benefit from a positive reaction to the Federal Reserve's interest rate announcement on Wednesday, with traders expressing optimism the Fed is nearing the end of its rate hiking cycle.

At the same time, the Dow bucked the uptrend due partly to a notable decline by shares of Merck (MRK), which tumbled by 3.3 percent after the drug giant provided disappointing guidance.

Crude oil prices drifted lower Thursday, weighed down by data showing an increase in U.S. crude inventories last week. The dollar's recovery and uncertainty about the outlook for energy demand due to concerns about a global recession also hurt. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for March fell $0.53 or 0.7 percent at $75.88 a barrel.

Closer to home, Hong Kong will provide December data for retail sales later today; in November, sales were down 4.2 percent on year.