Win Streak May Continue For Hong Kong Stock Market

(RTTNews) - The Hong Kong stock market has climbed higher in four straight sessions, advancing more than 300 points or 1.7 percent along the way. The Hang Seng Index now rests just above the 19,400-point plateau and it's expected to see additional support on Tuesday.

The global forecast for the Asian markets is positive on optimism over the outlook for interest rates. The European and U.S. markets were up and the Asian bourses figure to open in similar fashion.

The Hang Seng finished slightly higher on Monday as gains from the properties were offset by weakness from the technology stocks.

For the day, the index rose 14.36 points or 0.07 percent to finish at 19,404.31 after trading between 19,255.65 and 19,440.99.

Among the actives, Alibaba Group and ANTA Sports both perked 0.12 percent, while Alibaba Health Info fell 0.21 percent, China Life Insurance declined 1.48 percent, China Mengniu Dairy rallied 1.33 percent, China Resources Land increased 0.15 percent, CITIC stumbled 1.11 percent, CNOOC tanked 1.68 percent, Country Garden retreated 1.20 percent, CSPC Pharmaceutical skidded 0.89 percent, Galaxy Entertainment spiked 1.68 percent, Hang Lung Properties gained 0.30 percent, Henderson Land improved 0.42 percent, Hong Kong & China Gas slumped 1.00 percent, Industrial and Commercial Bank of China sank 0.23 percent, JD.com dropped 0.83 percent, Lenovo advanced 0.92 percent, Li Ning jumped 1.40 percent, Meituan added 0.39 percent, New World Development rose 0.25 percent, Techtronic Industries climbed 1.07 percent, Xiaomi Corporation surrendered 1.66 percent and WuXi Biologics tumbled 1.67 percent.

The lead from Wall Street is upbeat as the major averages opened in the green on Monday and accelerated as the day progressed, ending near session highs.

The Dow climbed 189.55 points or 0.56 percent to finish at 34,066.33, while the NASDAQ rallied 202.78 points or 1.53 percent to end at 13,461.92 and the S&P 500 gained 40.07 points or 0.93 percent to close at 4,338.93.

The strength on Wall Street comes as traders look ahead to the Federal Reserve's highly anticipated monetary policy announcement on Wednesday.

The Fed is widely expected to pause its recent interest rate increases but is also likely to reiterate its commitment to bringing inflation down to its 2 percent target.

The Fed's accompanying statement is likely to have a significant impact on the outlook for rates along with some closely watched inflation data due to be released in the coming days.

Oil prices fell sharply Monday on concerns about the outlook for energy demand following a downward revision in the crude oil price forecast by Goldman Sachs. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for July tumbled $3.05 or 4.4 percent at $67.12 a barrel, a three-month low.