Hong Kong Shares Expected To Open Under Pressure

(RTTNews) - The Hong Kong stock market turned lower again on Tuesday, one session after snapping the two-day slide in which it had tumbled more than 620 points or 3.5 percent. The Hang Seng Index now rests just above the 17,730-point plateau and it may take further damage on Wednesday.

The global forecast for the Asian markets suggests consolidation on profit taking and weak retail earnings. The European and U.S. markets were down and the Asian markets are tipped to open in similar fashion.

The Hang Seng finished modestly lower on Tuesday following losses from the financial shares and mixed performances from the properties and technology stocks.

For the day, the index lost 44.18 points or 0.25 percent to finish at 17,733.89 after trading between 17,689.01 and 18,057.62.

Among the actives, Alibaba Group soared 2.08 percent, while Alibaba Health Info skidded 0.64 percent, China Life Insurance dropped 0.36 percent, China Mengniu Dairy slumped 0.98 percent, China Resources Land improved 1.00 percent, CITIC perked 0.13 percent, CNOOC sank 0.31 percent, Country Garden rallied1.90 percent, CSPC Pharmaceutical tumbled 1.85 percent, ENN Energy tanked 2.87 percent, Galaxy Entertainment and Henderson Land both gained 0.68 percent, Hang Lung Properties surged 2.15 percent, Hong Kong & China Gas rose 0.18 percent, Industrial and Commercial Bank of China retreated 1.04 percent, JD.com spiked 2.03 percent, Lenovo plunged 3.35 percent, Li Ning fell 0.21 percent, Meituan jumped 1.38 percent, New World Development climbed 1.29 percent, Techtronic Industries added 0.93 percent, Xiaomi Corporation plummeted 4.94 percent, WuXi Biologics advanced 1.15 percent and ANTA Sports and Hengan International were unchanged.

The lead from Wall Street is soft as the major averages opened lower on Tuesday and remained in the red throughout the session.

The Dow dropped 62.75 points or 0.18 percent to finish at 35,088.29, while the NASDAQ tumbled 84.55 points or 0.59 percent to end at 14,199.98 and the S&P 500 fell 9.19 points or 0.20 percent to close at 4,538.19.

The pullback on Wall Street came as some traders looked to cash in on the recent strength in the markets, which has lifted the major averages to their best levels in over three months.

A negative reaction to some of the latest earnings news from major retailers also weighed on Wall Street, with disappointing results from the likes of American Eagle Outfitters (AEO), Kohl's (KSS), Lowe's (LOW) and Best Buy (BBY).

The markets did not show much reaction to the minutes of the Federal Reserve's latest monetary policy meeting, which said Fed officials expect to keep interest rates at a restrictive level for "some time."

Crude oil futures settled slightly lower Tuesday ahead of this weekend's OPEC meeting as investors wait to see if more production cuts may be in store. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for January eased $0.06 at $77.77 a barrel.