Hong Kong Shares Tipped To Reverse Friday's Damage

(RTTNews) - The Hong Kong stock market on Friday wrote a finish to the two-day winning streak in which it had advanced more than 260 points or 1.7 percent. The Hang Seng Index now sits just above the 14,860-point plateau although it's looking at a firm rebound on Monday.

The global forecast for the Asian markets is upbeat, fueled by solid earnings news among technology shares. The European markets were mixed and the U.S. bourses were sharply higher and the Asian markets are also tipped to open in the green.

The Hang Seng finished with huge losses on Friday with damage in all sectors, especially the technology and property stocks.

For the day, the index plummeted 564.88 points or 3.66 percent to finish at 14,863.06 after trading between 14,770.09 and 15,441.99.

Among the actives, Alibaba Group surrendered 4.78 percent, while Alibaba Health Info tumbled 6.35 percent, ANTA Sports retreated 3.11 percent, China Life Insurance slumped 2.55 percent, China Mengniu Dairy plummeted 9.86 percent, China Petroleum and Chemical (Sinopec) stumbled 2.08 percent, China Resources Land declined 4.28 percent, CITIC lost 1.08 percent, CNOOC slid 0.31 percent, Country Garden plunged 8.78 percent, CSPC Pharmaceutical skidded 1.91 percent, Galaxy Entertainment tanked 6.88 percent, Hang Lung Properties and ENN Energy both retreated 4.09 percent, Henderson Land shed 1.22 percent, Hong Kong & China Gas sank 1.60 percent, Industrial and Commercial Bank of China fell 0.83 percent, JD.com tumbled 6.68 percent, Lenovo dropped 1.62 percent, Li Ning tanked 7.33 percent, Longfor plummeted 11.23 percent, Meituan plunged 7.59 percent, New World Development declined 4.24 percent, Techtronic Industries slumped 2.40 percent, Xiaomi Corporation surrendered 5.11 percent and WuXi Biologics stumbled 2.39 percent.

The lead from Wall Street is broadly positive as the major averages opened slightly higher on Friday but accelerated throughout the day, ending near session highs.

The Dow surged 828.50 points or 2.59 percent to finish at 32,861.80, while the NASDAQ soared 309.75 points or 2.87 percent to end at 11,102.45 and the S&P 500 jumped 93.76 points or 2.46 percent to close at 3,901.06.

For the week, the Dow spiked 5.7 percent, the S&P 500 jumped 4.0 percent and the NASDAQ rallied 2.2 percent.

Traders reacted positively to strong earnings news from the likes of semiconductor giant Intel (INTC), Apple (AAPL) and energy giant Exxon Mobil (XOM).

Buying interest may also have been generated by a Commerce Department report showing core consumer price growth accelerated less than expected in September - which may encourage the Federal Reserve to slow the pace of its interest rate hikes.

Oil prices drifted lower on Friday as worries about the outlook for energy demand resurfaced due to increased Covid-19 restrictions in parts of China. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for December slumped $1.18 or 1.3 percent at $87.90 a barrel. WTI crude futures gained more than 3 percent in the week.

Closer to home, Hong Kong will provide an advance estimate for Q3 gross domestic product later today, with forecasts suggesting an increase of 2.0 percent on quarter and 0.7 percent on year. That follows the 1.0 percent quarterly increase and the 1.3 percent annual contraction in the three months prior.