Hang Seng Index Due For Consolidation

(RTTNews) - The Hong Kong stock market has moved higher in two straight sessions, rallying more than 850 points or 4.2 percent along the way. The Hang Seng Index now sits just above the 20,410-point plateau although investors may lock in gains on Tuesday.

The global forecast for the Asian markets is soft on weakness from the technology stocks and ahead of key U.S. inflation data later in the week. The European markets were mixed and the U.S. bourses were down and the Asian markets figure to split the difference.

The Hang Seng finished sharply higher on Monday with gains across the board, especially among the technology stocks and financials.

For the day, the index surged 548.24 points or 2.76 percent to finish at 20,414.09 after trading between 19,695.51 and 20,433.73.

Among the actives, Alibaba Group and Xiaomi Corporation both strengthened 3.51 percent, while Alibaba Health Info surged 5.82 percent, ANTA Sports spiked 5.41 percent, China Life Insurance soared 5.46 percent, China Mengniu Dairy improved 2.61 percent, China Resources Land jumped 3.79 percent, CITIC advanced 2.90 percent, CNOOC gathered 1.81 percent, CSPC Pharmaceutical climbed 3.00 percent, Galaxy Entertainment increased 2.26 percent, Haier Smart Home spiked 4.56 percent, Hang Lung Properties rallied 4.50 percent, Henderson Land gained 2.00 percent, Hong Kong & China Gas was up 0.34 percent, Industrial and Commercial Bank of China collected 1.47 percent, JD.com jumped 3.82 percent, Lenovo rose 1.94 percent, Li Auto rallied 4.14 percent, Li Ning soared 5.06 percent, Meituan surged 5.73 percent, New World Development climbed 2.93 percent, Nongfu Spring accelerated 4.09 percent, Techtronic Industries added 2.16 percent and WuXi Biologics skyrocketed 9.57 percent.

The lead from Wall Street is negative as the major averages opened mixed on Monday but quickly fell into the red and stayed that way for the balance of the session.

The Dow dropped 240.59 points or 0.54 percent to finish at 44,401.93, while the NASDAQ slumped 123.0.8 points or 0.62 percent to end at 19,736.69 and the S&P 500 sank 37.42 points or 0.61 percent to close at 6,052.85.

A slump by shares of Nvidia (NVDA) weighed on the markets, with the AI darling tumbling by 2.6 percent amid news a Chinese regulator has launched an investigation into whether the chipmaker violated antimonopoly laws.

The weakness on Wall Street also came as traders looked ahead to the release of closely watched U.S. inflation data later in the week.

While the Federal Reserve is widely expected to lower rates by another 25 basis points next week, there is some uncertainty about whether the central bank will continue cutting rates next year.

Oil prices climbed higher on geopolitical tensions and optimism that the Chinese central bank will loosen its monetary policy to boost economic growth. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for January closed up $1.17 or 1.74 percent at $68.37 a barrel.