Hong Kong Shares Expected To Open In The Red

(RTTNews) - The Hong Kong stock market has finished lower in three straight sessions, slumping more than 770 points or 3.8 percent along the way. The Hang Seng Index now sits just beneath the 19,620-point plateau and it's looking at another soft start again on Wednesday.

The global forecast for the Asian markets is mixed to lower on renewed concerns over the health of the financial systems. The European markets were mixed and little changed and the U.S. bourses were sharply lower and the Asian markets figure to split the difference.

The Hang Seng finished sharply lower on Tuesday with damage across the board, especially from the financial and technology sectors.

For the day, the index plunged 342.06 points or 1.71 percent to finish at 19,617.88 after trading between 19,527.63 and 19,910.28.

Among the actives, Alibaba Group weakened 3.22 percent, while Alibaba Health Info stumbled 3.30 percent, ANTA Sports sank 2.59 percent, China Life Insurance climbed 1.13 percent, China Mengniu Dairy was down 0.16 percent, China Resources Land skidded 3.12 percent, CITIC lost 1.56 percent, CNOOC added 0.49 percent, Country Garden retreated 3.39 percent, CSPC Pharmaceutical plunged 5.62 percent, Galaxy Entertainment slumped 3.26 percent, Hang Lung Properties slid 0.71 percent, Henderson Land rose 0.19 percent, Hong Kong & China Gas eased 0.15 percent, Industrial and Commercial Bank of China dipped 0.24 percent, JD.com tumbled 4.12 percent, Lenovo surrendered 4.19 percent, Li Ning shed 2.55 percent, Meituan tanked 4.36 percent, New World Development fell 0.90 percent, Techtronic Industries dropped 2.86 percent, Xiaomi Corporation declined 3.87 percent and WuXi Biologics plummeted 7.12 percent.

The lead from Wall Street is broadly negative as the major averages opened slightly lower on Tuesday but accelerated deeper into the red as the day progressed, ending near session lows.

The Dow plunged 344.57 points or 1.02 percent to finish at 33,530.83, while the NASDAQ tumbled 238.05 points or 1.98 percent to close at 11,799.16 and the S&P 500 sank 65.4 points or 1.58 percent to end at 4,071.63.

The sell-off on Wall Street reflected a negative reaction to quarterly results from First Republic (FRC), with the regional bank plunging by 49.4 percent. The steep drop came after the company reported a loss of more than $100 billion in deposits in the first quarter, renewing concerns about turmoil in the banking sector.

Results for UPS Inc. (UPS) also disappointed, while General Motors (GM), PepsiCo (PEP), McDonald's (MCD) and 3M (MMM) reported better than expected quarterly earnings.

In economic news, the Conference Board reported that consumer confidence deteriorated more than expected in April. Also, the Commerce Department said new home sales unexpectedly spiked to their highest level in a year in March.

Oil prices fell sharply on Tuesday amid concerns over the outlook for energy demand due to fears of a global economic slowdown, while the dollar's rise weighed as well. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for June ended lower by $1.69 or 2.2 percent to $77.07 per barrel.