Hang Seng Poised To Halt Losing Streak

(RTTNews) - The Hong Kong stock market has moved lower in two straight sessions, shedding more than 400 points or 2 percent along the way. The Hang Seng now sits just above the 19,700-point plateau although it may stop the bleeding on Friday.

The global forecast for the Asian markets is upbeat on continued solid momentum ahead of the Lunar New Year holidays. The European and U.S. markets were up and the Asian markets are expected to follow that lead.

The Hang Seng finished modestly lower on Thursday as losses from the property and technology sectors were mitigated by support from the financial shares.

For the day, the index lost 78.21 points or 0.40 percent to finish at 19,700.56 after trading between 19,644.83 and 20,044.06.

Among the actives, Alibaba Group advanced 0.85 percent, while Alibaba Health Info gathered 0.30 percent, ANTA Sports plunged 2.85 percent, China Life Insurance soared 2.48 percent, China Mengniu Dairy gained 0.52 percent, China Resources Land stumbled 1.72 percent, CITIC rallied 1.04 percent, CNOOC shed 0.64 percent, CSPC Pharmaceutical slid 0.23 percent, Galaxy Entertainment surrendered 1.75 percent, Haier Smart Home declined 0.99 percent, Hang Lung Properties slumped 0.97 percent, Henderson Land dropped 0.91 percent, Hong Kong & China Gas sank 0.67 percent, Industrial and Commercial Bank of China surged 2.61 percent, JD.com and Li Ning both fell 0.26 percent, Lenovo added 0.55 percent, Li Auto plummeted 3.75 percent, Meituan skidded 0.92 percent, New World Development rose 0.50 percent, Nongfu Spring tumbled 1.30 percent, Techtronic Industries retreated 1.06 percent, Xiaomi Corporation tanked 2.27 percent, WuXi Biologics lost 0.45 percent and CLP Holdings was unchanged.

The lead from Wall Street is upbeat as the major averages opened mixed on Thursday but climbed steadily as the day progressed, so they were all in the green by the session's end.

The Dow surged 408.34 points or 0.92 percent to finish at 44,565.07, while the NASDAQ added 44.34 points or 0.22 percent to close at 20,053.68 and the S&P 500 gained 32.34 points or 0.53 percent to end at 6,118.71.

The markets continued to benefit from recent upward momentum, which has help stocks largely offset the sell-off seen earlier this month.

Biotechnology stocks showed a strong move to the upside as the day progressed, driving the NYSE Arca Biotechnology Index up by 1.8 percent to its best closing level in almost four years.

In U.S. economic news, the Labor Department released a report showing initial jobless claims saw further upside last week.

Oil prices fell on Thursday after data showed crude inventories in the U.S. fell less than expected last week. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for March closed down $0.82 or about 1.1 percent at $74.62 a barrel.