Soft Start Anticipated For Hong Kong Stock Market

(RTTNews) - The Hong Kong stock market has finished higher in two of three trading days since the end of the two-day slide in which it had stumbled almost 700 points or 4 percent to an 11-year closing low. The Hang Seng Index sits just above the 18,080-point plateau although it's expected to give back some of those gains on Thursday.

The global forecast for the Asian markets is soft on recession fears and concerns about the outlook for interest rates. The European and U.S. markets were modestly lower and the Asian bourses are tipped to follow suit.

The Hang Seng finished with huge gains on Wednesday with gains across the board as it rebounded from recent heavy selling.

For the day, the index skyrocketed 1,008.46 points or 5.90 percent to finish at 18,087.97 after trading between 17,682.85 and 18,164.20.

Among the actives, Alibaba Group surged 8.44 percent, while Alibaba Health Info soared 8.01 percent, ANTA Sports skyrocketed 10.46 percent, China Life Insurance jumped 4.30 percent, China Mengniu Dairy rallied 4.82 percent, China Petroleum and Chemical (Sinopec) strengthened 4.18 percent, China Resources Land and Henderson Land both advanced 3.42 percent, CITIC gained 2.71 percent, CNOOC added 3.06 percent, Country Garden dropped 0.96 percent, CSPC Pharmaceutical lost 0.51 percent, Galaxy Entertainment spiked 5.39 percent, Hang Lung Properties climbed 3.72 percent, Hong Kong & China Gas increased 3.52 percent, Industrial and Commercial Bank of China jumped 4.96 percent, JD.com surged 10.13 percent, Lenovo rallied 6.52 percent, Li Ning skyrocketed 10.41 percent, Longfor rose 0.41 percent, Meituan soared 8.16 percent, New World Development climbed 3.59 percent, Techtronic Industries improved 2.08 percent, Xiaomi Corporation spiked 6.94 percent and WuXi Biologics strengthened 4.24 percent.

The lead from Wall Street suggests mild consolidation as the major averages opened sharply lower but clawed their way back as the day progressed to end only slightly in the red.

The Dow shed 42.45 points or 0.14 percent to finish at 30,273.87, while the NASDAQ lost 27.77 points or 0.25 percent to end at 11,148.64 and the S&P 500 dipped 7.65 points or 0.20 percent to close at 3,783.28.

The early weakness on Wall Street came as central banks around the world appear poised to continue raising interest in the months ahead, potentially tipping the global economy into a recession as they combat elevated inflation.

A rebound by treasury yields also weighed on the markets, with the yield on the benchmark 10-year note regaining ground after easing in the two previous sessions. Selling pressure waned over the course of the session, however, as traders may feel the economic worries have been overdone.

Upbeat U.S. economic data has added to worries the Federal Reserve will continue to aggressively raising interest rates going into the end of the year as payroll processor ADP said private sector employment in the U.S. increased slightly more than expected in September.

Crude oil prices climbed higher on Wednesday after OPEC agreed to impose output cuts, aiming to spur a recovery in oil prices. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for November climbed $1.24 or 1.4 percent at $87.76 a barrel.