Hong Kong Stock Market Tipped To Open In The Red

(RTTNews) - The Hong Kong stock market on Wednesday ended the two-day winning streak in which it had advanced more than 210 points or 1 percent. The Hang Seng Index now sits just above the 20,300-point plateau and it's looking at another soft start again on Thursday.

The global forecast for the Asian markets is soft on concerns over interest rates and the economy. The European markets were up and the U.S. bourses were down and the Asian markets are tipped to follow the latter lead.

The Hang Seng finished modestly lower on Wednesday as losses from the technology stocks were offset by support from the financials and properties.

For the day, the index sank 175.38 points or 0.86 percent to finish at 20,309.86 after trading between 20,236.92 and 20,494.81.

Among the actives, Alibaba Group plunged 3.27 percent, while Alibaba Health Info declined 2.50 percent, ANTA Sports sank 0.62 percent, China Life Insurance perked 0.31 percent, China Mengniu Dairy retreated 2.11 percent, China Resources Land soared 2.64 percent, CITIC and Henderson Land both advanced 0.54 percent, CNOOC added 0.49 percent, Country Garden surged 3.21 percent, CSPC Pharmaceutical jumped 1.40 percent, Galaxy Entertainment rose 0.36 percent, Hang Lung Properties rallied 1.34 percent, Industrial and Commercial Bank of China collected 0.95 percent, JD.com plummeted 3.53 percent, Lenovo spiked 1.80 percent, Li Ning slumped 1.19 percent, Meituan tanked 3.25 percent, New World Development gained 0.46 percent, Techtronic Industries tumbled 3.09 percent, Xiaomi Corporation skidded 1.14 percent, WuXi Biologics eased 0.10 percent and Hong Kong & China Gas was unchanged.

The lead from Wall Street is negative as the major averages opened higher on Wednesday and bounced back and forth across the unchanged line before finally settling in the red.

The Dow shed 38.29 points or 0.11 percent to finish at 33,646.50, while the NASDAQ slumped 102.54 points or 0.85 percent to end at 11,929.34 and the S&P 500 lost 16.99 points or 0.41 percent to close at 4,091.95.

Stocks initially benefited from a positive reaction to a Labor Department report showing U.S. consumer prices increased by less than expected in the month of March.

Stocks turned lower over the course of the morning, however, as many economists said they still expect the Federal Reserve to raise interest rates by another quarter point early next month.

While buying interest reemerged later in the session, stocks moved back to the downside after the minutes of the latest Fed meeting suggested the recent banking sector turmoil could lead to a recession.

Crude oil prices moved spiked on Wednesday as tamer-than-expected inflation data contributed to an extended pullback in the value of the U.S. dollar. West Texas Intermediate for May delivery shot up $1.73 or 2.1 percent to $83.26 a barrel.