Soft Start Expected For Hong Kong Shares

(RTTNews) - The Hong Kong stock market has tracked lower in four straight sessions, shedding almost 830 points or 3.2 percent in that span. The Hang Seng Index now sits just beneath the 25,120-point plateau and it's got another weak lead from Monday's trade.

The global forecast for the Asian markets is weak on profit taking and rising oil prices. The European markets were mixed and the U.S. bourses were down and the Asian markets figure to split the difference on Monday.

The Hang Seng finished sharply lower on Friday following losses from the financial shares and technology stocks, although the energy companies offered support.

For the day, the index dropped 279.65 points or 1.10 percent to finish at 25,116.85 after trading between 25,089.14 and 25,311.86.

The lead from Wall Street is soft as the major averages opened slightly higher on Friday but quickly tailed off and fell under water for the balance of the day.

The Dow sank 107.59 points or 0.20 percent to finish at 53,732.41, while the NASDAQ shed 73.84 points or 0.28 percent to end at 26,729.16 and the S&P 500 dipped 13.23 points or 0.17 percent to close at 7,785.23.

For the week, the Dow slid 0.6 percent, while the NASDAQ crept up 0.1 percent and the S&P 500 rose 0.4 percent.

The modest pullback on Wall Street reflected profit taking following the upward move seen in the two previous sessions, which lifted the S&P 500 to a record intraday high above 7,800. Also, the tech-heavy NASDAQ reached its highest closing level in over two months.

In economic news, the University of Michigan noted a significant deterioration in U.S. consumer sentiment in August. Also, the Commerce Department reported an unexpected decline in U.S. retail sales in July.

Crude oil prices surged on Friday as the U.S. and Iran continue to spar on their demands, leaving the Strait of Hormuz shut for shipping traffic. West Texas Intermediate crude for September delivery was up $1.05 or 1.29 percent at $82.30 per barrel.