Soft Start Tipped For Hong Kong Stock Market

(RTTNews) - The Hong Kong stock market on Friday wrote a finish to the three-day losing streak in which it had stumbled more than 1,450 points or 4.3 percent. The Hang Seng now sits just below the 23,100-point plateau although it may open under pressure on Monday.

The global forecast for the Asian markets is negative on rising oil prices and ahead of this week's U.S. rate decision. The European and U.S. markets were down and the Asian bourses are likely to open in similar fashion.

The Hang Seng finished modestly higher on Friday as gains from the technology and consumer stocks were limited by weakness among the financials and properties.

For the day, the index collected 158.67 points of 0.69 percent to finish at 23,093.37 after trading between 22,803.77 and 23,231.63.

The lead from Wall Street is weak as the major averages opened lower on Friday and mostly stayed under water, finishing near session lows.

The Dow tumbled 652.84 points or 1.23 percent to finish at 52,215.16, while the NASDAQ sank 53.56 points or 0.21 percent to close at 25,955.34 and the S&P 500 lost 39.75 points or 0.52 percent to end at 7,623.68.

For the week, the Dow rose 0.4 percent, the NASDAQ shed 0.7 percent and the S&P fell 0.5 percent.

Lingering concerns about the artificial intelligence trade contributed to the weakness on Wall Street along with a continued increase in the price of crude oil.

Crude oil prices spiked on Friday on rising fears of fresh U.S.-Iran conflict, as well as the ongoing Houthi-Saudi Arabia violence. West Texas Intermediate crude for December delivery was up $3.54 or 3.56 percent at $103.01 per barrel.

However, traders were reluctant to make more significant moves ahead of several key events this week, including the Federal Reserve's latest monetary policy meeting. The Fed is scheduled to announce its latest monetary policy decision on Wednesday and leave rates unchanged.