Lower Open Called For Hong Kong Stock Market

(RTTNews) - The Hong Kong stock market has finished higher in consecutive trading days, accelerating almost 500 points or 2.2 percent along the way. The Hang Seng Index now sits just above the 23,825-point plateau, although it's likely to run out of steam on Thursday.

The global forecast for the Asian markets is negative on concerns over rising bond yields. The European markets were mixed and the U.S. bourses were sharply lower and the Asian markets also figure to open under pressure.

The Hang Seng finished modestly higher on Wednesday following mixed performances from the financial shares, property stocks and technology companies.

For the day, the index jumped 146.30 points or 0.62 percent to finish at 23,827.78 after trading between 23,697.76 and 23,917.00.

Among the actives, Alibaba Group advanced 1.15 percent, while Alibaba Health Info slumped 1.23 percent, ANTA Sports surged 5.77 percent, China Life Insurance and Nongfu Spring both dipped 0.13 percent, China Mengniu Dairy declined 1.41 percent, China Resources Land rallied 2.20 percent, CITIC was up 0.50 percent, CNOOC strengthened 1.48 percent, CSPC Pharmaceutical soared 3.49 percent, Galaxy Entertainment tumbled 1.71 percent, Haier Smart Home increased 0.42 percent, Hang Lung Properties rose 0.64 percent, Henderson Land jumped 1.85 percent, Hong Kong & China Gas dropped 0.85 percent, JD.com added 0.75 percent, Lenovo climbed 1.20 percent, Li Auto accelerated 4.05 percent, Li Ning improved 0.92 percent, Meituan gained 0.66 percent, New World Development skidded 1.10 percent, Techtronic Industries retreated 1.45 percent, Xiaomi Corporation sank 0.64 percent, WuXi Biologics spiked 2.28 percent and Industrial and Commercial Bank of China was unchanged.

The lead from Wall Street is bleak as the major averages opened lower on Wednesday and only got worse as the day progressed, ending near session lows.

The Dow tumbled 816.80 points or 1.91 percent to finish at 41,860.44, while the NASDAQ dropped 270.07 points or 1.41 percent to close at 18,872.64 and the S&P 500 sank 95.85 points or 1.61 percent to end at 5,844.61.

The weakness on Wall Street was the result of a continued increase by bond yields, with the 30-year bond yield climbing above 5 percent due to concerns a new U.S. tax bill could worsen the country's deficit.

President Donald Trump's sweeping tax and spending bill is one step closer to a full vote in the House of Representatives, with economists warning the proposal would add more than $2.5 trillion to the federal debt over the next decade.

Treasury yields saw further upside after the Treasury Department revealed this month's auction of $16 billion worth of 20-year bonds attracted below average demand.

Crude oil futures fell under pressure Wednesday after a report released by the Energy Information Administration showed U.S. crude oil inventories unexpectedly increased last week. West Texas Intermediate crude for July delivery slid $0.46 to 0.7 percent to $61.57 a barrel.

Closer to home, Hong Kong will provide April data for consumer prices later today; in March, overall inflation was flat on month and up 1.4 percent on year.