Soft Start Anticipated For Hong Kong Bourse

(RTTNews) - The Hong Kong stock market has moved lower in three straight sessions, dropping more than 480 points or 2.7 percent along the way. The Hang Seng Index now sits just beneath the 18,930-point plateau and it may spin its wheels again on Friday.

The global forecast for the Asian markets is murky, with earnings news possibly steering the markets. The European markets were up and the U.S. bourses were mostly lower and the Asian markets figure to split the difference.

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

For the day, the index dipped 24.29 points or 0.13 percent to finish at 18,928.02 after trading between 18,888.76 and 19,215.74.

Among the actives, Alibaba Group declined 0.94 percent, while Alibaba Health Info lost 0.20 percent, ANTA Sports eased 0.06 percent, China Life Insurance retreated 1.55 percent, China Mengniu Dairy gained 0.54 percent, China Resources Land spiked 2.38 percent, Country Garden surged 3.70 percent, CSPC Pharmaceutical jumped 1.13 percent, Galaxy Entertainment slumped 0.46 percent, Hang Lung Properties soared 2.68 percent, Henderson Land rose 0.44 percent, Hong Kong & China Gas added 0.62 percent, Industrial and Commercial Bank of China collected 0.56 percent, JD.com perked 0.07 percent, Lenovo tumbled 1.62 percent, Meituan skidded 0.78 percent, New World Development rallied 1.67 percent, Techtronic Industries advanced 0.69 percent, Xiaomi Corporation retreated 0.90 percent, WuXi Biologics climbed 1.00 percent and Li Ning, CITIC, CNOOC and CK Infrastructure were unchanged.

The lead from Wall Street is inconsistent and uninspiring as the major averages opened and closed mixed on Thursday; the Dow opened higher and stayed that way, while the NASDAQ and S&P opened lower and remained in the red throughout.

The Dow climbed 163.97 points or 0.47 percent to finish at 35,225.18, while the NASDAQ tumbled 294.71 points or 2.05 percent to close at 14,063.31 and the S&P 500 sank 30.85 points or 0.68 percent to end at 4,534.87.

The sharp pullback by the Nasdaq came amid a negative reaction to earnings news from companies like Netflix (NFLX) and Tesla (TSLA). On the other hand, the narrower Dow benefitted from a spike from Johnson & Johnson (JNJ) after solid earnings news.

Traders also reacted to a Labor Department report showing that first-time claims for U.S. jobless benefits unexpectedly dipped last week.

Crude oil prices climbed higher on Thursday and lifted the August series futures contract to a positive close on the expiration day amid fears of declining supplies from Russia. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for August settled at $75.63 a barrel, gaining $0.28 or 0.4 percent.