Hang Seng May Give Up Support At 20,000 Points

(RTTNews) - The Hong Kong stock market has tracked lower in two straight sessions, sinking more than 50 points or 0.3 percent along the way. The Hang Seng Index now sits just above the 20,040-point plateau, and it's expected to open under pressure again on Tuesday.

The global forecast for the Asian markets is soft, with profit taking expected by the year's end - especially among the technology stocks. The European and U.S. markets were down and the Asian bourses figure to open in similar fashion.

The Hang Seng finished modestly lower on Monday following losses from the properties and a mixed picture from the technology companies.

For the day, the index slumped 49.04 points or 0.24 percent to finish at 20,041.42 after trading between 19,968.07 and 20,193.09.

Among the actives, Alibaba Group fell 0.43 percent, while Alibaba Health Info declined 1.47 percent, ANTA Sports tanked 2.50 percent, China Life Insurance collected 0.54 percent, China Mengniu Dairy tumbled 1.96 percent, China Resources Land retreated 1.53 percent, CNOOC rallied 0.96 percent, CSPC Pharmaceutical and Henderson Land both shed 0.63 percent, Galaxy Entertainment plunged 3.10 percent, Haier Smart Home slumped 1.29 percent, Hang Lung Properties sank 0.64 percent, Industrial and Commercial Bank of China added 0.19 percent, JD.com dropped 0.88 percent, Lenovo plummeted 3.41 percent, Li Auto surrendered 2.29 percent, Li Ning stumbled 1.57 percent, Meituan skidded 1.23 percent, New World Development lost 0.57 percent, Techtronic Industries dipped 0.19 percent, Xiaomi Corporation advanced 0.88 percent, WuXi Biologics spiked 2.19 percent and CITIC, Nongfu Spring and Hong Kong & China Gas were unchanged.

The lead from Wall Street is weak as the major averages opened lower on Monday and remained in the red throughout the trading day.

The Dow tumbled 418.48 points or 0.97 percent to finish at 42,573.73, while the NASDAQ slumped 235.25 points or 1.19 percent to close at 19.486.79 and the S&P 500 sank 63.90 points or 1.07 percent to end at 5,906.94.

The weakness on Wall Street marked an extension of the sell-off seen last Friday, with traders taking profits going into the end of the year. The major averages still remain poised to post substantial gains for 2024, however, as the tech-heavy NASDAQ is up nearly 30 percent for the year.

Technology stocks climbed off their worst levels after helping lead the early slump but still ended the day notably lower. Significant weakness was visible among semiconductor stocks, as reflected by the 1.9 percent loss posted by the Philadelphia Semiconductor Index.

The sell-off on Wall Street may have been exaggerated by below average volume, as many traders remain away from their desks ahead of the New Year's Day holiday on Wednesday.

Oil prices rose to a five-week high on Monday, continuing to benefit from recent data showing a larger than expected drop in crude inventories in the U.S. Expectations of increased demand from China contributed as well to the rise in oil prices. West Texas Intermediate Crude futures for February rose 0.6 percent to $70.99 a barrel.