Hong Kong Shares Have Firm Lead For Friday

(RTTNews) - The Hong Kong stock market has finished lower in two of three trading days since the end of the three-day winning streak in which it had rallied more than 820 points or 3.9 percent. The Hang Seng Index now rests just beneath the 21,815-point plateau although it's likely to open higher again on Friday.

The global forecast for the Asian markets is upbeat on easing concerns over the outlook for interest rates. The European and U.S. markets were mostly in the green and the Asian bourses are expected to open in similar fashion.

The Hang Seng finished modestly lower on Thursday following losses from the technology stocks and properties.

For the day, the index shed 43.55 points or 0.20 percent to finish at 21,814.37 after trading between 21,735.56 and 22,523.57.

Among the actives, Alibaba Group rallied 2.55 percent, while Alibaba Health Info surged 3.86 percent, ANTA Sports and Hong Kong & China Gas both improved 0.83 percent, China Life Insurance stumbled 3.53 percent, China Mengniu Dairy spiked 2.75 percent, China Resources Land skidded 2.41 percent, CITIC dipped 0.11 percent, CNOOC dropped 1.38 percent, CSPC Pharmaceutical rose 0.22 percent, Galaxy Entertainment jumped 1.74 percent, Hang Lung Properties retreated 2.85 percent, Henderson Land slumped 2.75 percent, Industrial and Commercial Bank of China collected 0.54 percent, JD.com tumbled 2.95 percent, Lenovo plunged 5.00 percent, Li Auto surrendered 2.97 percent, Li Ning climbed 1.13 percent, Meituan soared 2.90 percent, New World Development tanked 4.38 percent, Nongfu Spring sank 0.84 percent, Techtronic Industries advanced 0.85 percent, Xiaomi Corporation plummeted 5.56 percent, WuXi Biologics declined 2.80 percent and Haier Smart Home was unchanged.

The lead from Wall Street is strong as the major averages opened slightly higher on Thursday but only continued to strengthen as the day progressed, ending near session highs.

The Dow jumped 342.87 points or 0.77 percent to finish at 44,711.43, while the NASDAQ surged 295.69 points or 1.50 percent to close at 19,945.64 and the S&P 500 rallied 63.10 points or 1.04 percent to end at 6,115.07.

The rally on Wall Street came after the Labor Department released its report on producer price inflation in January. While the headline number rose by more than expected, components of the Federal Reserve's preferred inflation reading were relatively tame.

The data helped to ease concerns about the outlook for interest rates after Wednesday's consumer price numbers came in hitter than expected.

A separate report from the Labor Department showed first-time claims for U.S. unemployment benefits fell by slightly more than expected last week.