Lower Open Called For Hong Kong Stock Market

(RTTNews) - The Hong Kong stock market on Wednesday ended the two-day winning streak in which it had picked up almost 620 points or 2.4 percent. The Hang Seng Index now sits just shy of the 25,500-point plateau and it's expected to open in the red again on Wednesday.

The global forecast for the Asian markets is negative on renewed ambiguity surrounding U.S. tariff policies. The European and U.S. markets were down and the Asian bourses are expected to follow that lead.

The Hang Seng finished modestly lower on Tuesday as the property and technology stocks ended mostly under water.

For the day, the index shed 120.87 points or 0.47 percent to finish at 25,496.55 after trading between 25,416.61 and 25,724.73.

Among the actives, Alibaba Group surrendered 1.75 percent, while Alibaba Health Info surged 4.62 points, ANTA Sports retreated 1.63 percent, China Life Insurance slumped 1.35 percent, China Mengniu Dairy dropped 1.19 percent, China Resources Land stumbled 1.77 percent, CITIC skidded 1.24 percent, CNOOC improved 0.55 percent, CSPC Pharmaceutical and Techtronic Industries both plunged 2.18 percent, Galaxy Entertainment added 0.34 percent, Haier Smart Home and Lenovo both sank 0.99 percent, Hang Lung Properties advanced 0.88 percent, Henderson Land eased 0.07 percent, Hong Kong & China Gas slipped 0.29 percent, Industrial and Commercial Bank of China rallied 1.40 percent, JD.com tumbled 1.48 percent, Li Auto fell 0.38 percent, Li Ning declined 1.39 percent, Meituan tanked 1.84 percent, New World Development plummeted 2.83 percent, Nongfu Spring and Hengan International both shed 0.96 percent, Xiaomi Corporation soared 3.43 percent, WuXi Biologics lost 0.67 percent and CKI Holdings and ENN Energy were unchanged.

The lead from Wall Street is weak as the major averages opened lower and remained in the red throughout the day, although off session lows.

The Dow dropped 249.07 points or 0.55 percent to finish at 45,295.81, while the NASDAQ sank 175.92 points or 0.82 percent to end at 21,279.63 and the S&P 500 lost 44.72 points or 0.69 percent to close at 6,415.54.

The early sell-off on Wall Street came amid renewed trade uncertainty after the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit ruled most of President Donald Trump's global tariffs are illegal.

Treasury yields surged in reaction to the ruling amid concerns the government may have to repay the billions of dollars already brought in through Trump's tariffs.

In U.S. economic news, the Institute for Supply Management released a report showing a slight increase by its reading on U.S. manufacturing activity in August, although the index still posted its sixth consecutive month of contraction.

Crude oil jumped on Tuesday on concerns about supply disruptions increased following strikes on Russian energy sites by Ukraine. West Texas Intermediate crude for October delivery was up $1.51 or 2.36 percent at $65.52 per barrel.