Steady Start Eyed For Hong Kong Stock Market

(RTTNews) - The Hong Kong stock market on Wednesday snaped the two-day losing streak in which it had tumbled almost 450 points or 2 percent. The Hang Seng Index now sits just beneath the 23,790-point plateau and it's tipped to open modestly to the upside again on Thursday.

The global forecast for the Asian markets is fairly upbeat, with bargain hunting expected among especially the technology stocks. The European markets were up and the U.S. bourses were mixed and the Asian markets figure to split the difference.

The Hang Seng finished sharply higher on Wednesday following gains from the financial shares, property stocks and technology companies.

For the day, the index surged 753.91 points or 3.27 percent to finish at 23,787.93 after trading between 23,238.34 and 23,973.17.

Among the actives, Alibaba Group strengthened 4.82 percent, while Alibaba Health Info sank 0.91 percent, ANTA Sports was up 1.00 percent, China Life Insurance climbed 4.06 percent, China Mengniu Dairy and Hang Lung Properties both advanced 3.72 percent, China Resources Land jumped 5.09 percent, CITIC added 2.99 percent, CNOOC tanked 1.22 percent, CSPC Pharmaceutical plummeted 4.17 percent, Galaxy Entertainment gathered 1.66 percent, Haier Smart Home improved 3.44 percent, Henderson Land gained 2.17 percent, Hong Kong & China Gas perked 1.31 percent, Industrial and Commercial Bank of China collected 1.27 percent, JD.com surged 8.45 percent, Lenovo slumped 1.09 percent, Li Auto soared 7.70 percent, Li Ning increased 3.12 percent, Meituan skyrocketed 9.84 percent, New World Development accelerated 6.46 percent, Nongfu Spring spiked 7.44 percent, Techtronic Industries eased 0.09 percent, Xiaomi Corporation rallied 5.83 percent and WuXi Biologics rose 1.71 percent.

The lead from Wall Street offers little clarity as the major averages hugged the line on Wednesday, finishing mixed and roughly flat as investors waited until after close for results from NVIDIA Corporation (NVDA).

The Dow stumbled 188.04 points or 0.43 percent to finish at 43,433.12, while the NASDAQ added 48.88 points or 0.26 percent to close at 19,075.26 and the S&P 500 perked 0.81 points or 0.01 percent to end at 5,956.06.

Wall Street saw some early bargain hunting following recent weakness in the markets, but mostly investors were waiting on the NVIDIA results.

After the bell, NVIDIA unveiled Q4 earnings that increased from last year, beat estimates slightly and provided positive guidance. That fueled choppy but not negative trade after hours.

In economic news, the Commerce Department released a report showing a substantial pullback by new home sales in the U.S. in January.

Crude oil prices drifted lower on Wednesday amid concerns about the outlook for demand as the Trump administration's tariff policies are expected to slow global economic growth. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for April settled lower by $0.31 at $68.62 a barrel.