Soft Start Expected For Hong Kong Stock Market

(RTTNews) - The Hong Kong stock market on Wednesday ended the two-day slide in which it had slumped almost 300 points or 1.9 percent. The Hang Seng Index now sits just above the 16,610-point plateau although it's likely to see renewed selling pressure on Thursday.

The global forecast for the Asian markets is soft, largely due to expectations of profit taking following recent gains. The European markets were mixed and the U.S. bourses were sharply lower and the Asian markets figure to follow the latter lead.

The Hang Seng finished modestly higher on Wednesday following gains from the technology stocks and entertainment companies, while the properties were mixed and the financials were soft.

For the day, the index climbed 108.81 points or 0.66 percent to finish at 16,613.81 after trading between 16,549.49 and 16,741.05.

Among the actives, Alibaba Group soared 2.65 percent, while Alibaba Health Info dropped 0.97 percent, ANTA Sports jumped 1.92 percent, China Life Insurance fell 0.31 percent, China Mengniu Dairy tumbled 1.71 percent, China Resources Land gained 0.74 percent, CITIC rose 0.54 percent, CNOOC improved 0.65 percent, Country Garden skyrocketed 5.24 percent, CSPC Pharmaceutical sank 0.58 percent, Galaxy Entertainment strengthened 1.78 percent, Hang Lung Properties slumped 1.13 percent, Henderson Land lost 0.43 percent, Hong Kong & China Gas added 0.88 percent, Industrial and Commercial Bank of China shed 0.54 percent, JD.com surged 3.31 percent, Lenovo climbed 1.17 percent, Li Ning spiked 2.01 percent, Meituan increased 0.45 percent, New World Development was up 0.17 percent, Techtronic Industries rallied 1.91 percent, Xiaomi Corporation eased 0.12 percent, WuXi Biologics advanced 1.06 percent and Hengan International was unchanged.

The lead from Wall Street is broadly negative as the major averages hugged the line for most of Wednesday's session but turned sharply lower heading into the close.

The Dow plunged 475.92 points or 1.27 percent to finish at 37,082.00, while the NASDAQ tumbled 225.28 points or 1.50 percent to close at 14,777.94 and the S&P 500 slumped 70.02 points or 1.47 percent to end at 4,698.36.

The late-day sell-off on Wall Street was largely attributed to profit taking, with traders cashing in on the strong upward move seen in recent sessions.

A steep drop by shares of FedEx (FDX) also weighed on the markets, with the delivery giant plunging by 12.1 percent after the company reported weaker than expected fiscal Q2 results and lowered its full-year revenue guidance.

In economic news, the Conference Board noted a much bigger than expected improvement in U.S. consumer confidence in December, while the National Association of Realtors showed an unexpected rebound in U.S. existing home sales last month.

Oil prices climbed higher Wednesday on concerns about trade disruptions in the Middle East after attacks on vessels in the Red Sea. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for January ended higher by $0.28 or 0.4 percent at $74.22 a barrel.

Closer to home, Hong Kong will release November numbers for consumer prices later today; in October, overall inflation was up 1.00 percent on month and 2.70 percent on year.