Lower Open Anticipated For Hong Kong Shares

(RTTNews) - The Hong Kong stock market bounced higher again on Wednesday, one session after ending the two-day winning streak in which it had picked up more than 480 points or 2.5 percent. The Hang Seng Index now sits just beneath the 19,900-point plateau although it figures to head south again on Thursday.

The global forecast for the Asian markets is soft amid concerns over the health of the world economy and the outlook for interest rates. The European markets were mixed and the U.S. bourses were down and the Asian markets figure to follow the latter lead.

The Hang Seng finished sharply higher on Wednesday as it caught up on missed sentiment over the Christmas break. Properties and technology stocks led the rally.

For the day, the index jumped 305.85 points or 1.56 percent to finish at 19,898.91 after trading between 19,787.94 and 20,098.23.

Among the actives, Alibaba Group improved 1.39 percent, while Alibaba Health Info fell 0.42 percent, ANTA Sports perked 0.19 percent, China Life Insurance soared 3.98 percent, China Mengniu Dairy collected 1.54 percent, China Resources Land retreated 1.28 percent, CITIC surged 4.19 percent, CNOOC advanced 1.73 percent, Country Garden skidded 1.13 percent, CSPC Pharmaceutical rose 0.60 percent, Galaxy Entertainment strengthened 2.05 percent, Hang Lung Properties rallied 3.78 percent, Henderson Land improved 1.70 percent, Hong Kong & China Gas jumped 2.58 percent, Industrial and Commercial Bank of China spiked 3.90 percent, JD.com added 1.14 percent, Lenovo soared 3.94 percent, Li Ning climbed 1.85 percent, Meituan increased 0.55 percent, New World Development rallied 2.74 percent, Techtronic Industries gained 0.74 percent, Xiaomi Corporation spiked 3.89 percent and WuXi Biologics surged 6.94 percent

The lead from Wall Street is negative as the major averages shook off a slightly higher open on Wednesday, quickly heading south and finishing firmly in the red.

The Dow tumbled 365.85 points or 1.10 percent to finish at 32,875.71, while the NASDAQ slumped 139.94 points or 1.35 percent to close at 10,213.29 and the S&P 500 sank 46.03 points or 1.20 percent to end at 3,783.22.

The weakness that emerged on Wall Street partly reflected ongoing concerns about the economic outlook and the possibility of higher interest rates leading to a recession.

However, with many traders away from their desks amid the holidays, the sell-off on Wall Street may have been exaggerated by below average volume.

In economic news, the National Association of Realtors reported a continued slump in U.S. pending home sales in November.

Crude oil prices dropped Wednesday on concerns about the outlook for energy demand amid fears of a global recession and rising COVID-19 cases in China. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for February ended down $0.57 or 0.7 percent at $78.86 a barrel.

Closer to home, Hong Kong will provide November figures for imports, exports and trade balance later today. In October, imports were down 11.9 percent on month and exports fell 10.4 percent, resulting in a trade deficit of HKD20.9 billion.