Hong Kong Shares Tipped To Open To The Downside

(RTTNews) - The Hong Kong stock market on Friday ended the two-day winning streak in which it had improved more than 230 points or 1 percent. The Hang Seng Index now rests just above the 23,425-point plateau and it's looking at another soft start again on Monday.

The global forecast for the Asian markets is weak on concerns over the health of the world economy. The European and U.S. markets were down and the Asian bourses are expected to open in similar fashion.

The Hang Seng finished modestly lower on Friday following losses from the financial shares and technology stocks, while the properties came in mixed.

For the day, the index retreated 152.20 points or 0.65 percent to finish at 23,426.60 after trading between 23,254.30 and 23,775.30.

Among the actives, Alibaba Group advanced 0.69 percent, while Alibaba Health Info stumbled 2.83 percent, ANTA Sports dropped 1.34 percent, China Life Insurance declined 1.68 percent, China Mengniu Dairy was down 0.41 percent, China Resources Land dipped 0.78 percent, CITIC skidded 1.35 percent, CNOOC shed 1.18 percent, CSPC Pharmaceutical rallied 2.85 percent, Galaxy Entertainment retreated 1.87 percent, Haier Smart Home plummeted 7.49 percent, Hang Lung Properties rose 0.15 percent, Henderson Land lost 1.10 percent, Hong Kong & China Gas climbed 0.90 percent, Industrial and Commercial Bank of China slid 0.90 percent, JD.com eased 0.12 percent, Lenovo plunged 4.40 percent, Li Auto tanked 3.49 percent, Li Ning added 0.35 percent, Meituan slumped 1.66 percent, New World Development tumbled 1.90 percent, Nongfu Spring jumped 1.61 percent, Techtronic Industries fell 1.09 percent, Xiaomi Corporation sank 1.26 percent and WuXi Biologics surrendered 3.42 percent.

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

The Dow plummeted 715.80 points or 1.69 percent to end at 41,583.90, while the NASDAQ tumbled 481.01 points or 2.70 percent to close at 17.322.99 and the S&P 500 dropped 112.37 points or 1.97 percent to end at 5,580.94. For the week, the NASDAQ plunged 2.6 percent, while the S&P lost 1.5 percent and the Dow shed 1.0 percent.

The sell-off on Wall Street came amid concerns about the outlook for the economy following the latest data, including the Federal Reserve's preferred readings on inflation.

While the Commerce Department report showed consumer prices increased in line with economist estimates, core consumer prices rose by slightly more than expected.

Stocks saw further downside after the University of Michigan released revised data showing consumer sentiment deteriorated more than estimated in March.

Oil prices fell Friday, but the most active futures contract still posted a weekly gain amid prospects of tighter supplies following the U.S. sanctions on Iran and Venezuela. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for May settled at $69.36 a barrel, losing $0.56 or 0.8 percent. WTI crude futures gained 1.6 percent in the week.

Closer to home, Hong Kong will see February data for retail sales later today; in January, sales were down 3.2 percent on year.