Higher Open Anticipated For Hong Kong Stock Market

(RTTNews) - The Hong Kong stock market headed south again on Tuesday, one day after snapping the five-day losing streak in which it plummeted almost 1,450 points or 7 percent. The Hang Seng Index now sits just above the 20,660-point plateau although it's predicted to reverse those losses on Wednesday.

The global forecast for the Asian markets is upbeat on bargain hunting and optimism ahead of earnings season. The European and U.S. markets were sharply higher and the Asian bourses are tipped to open in similar fashion.

The Hang Seng finished modestly lower on Tuesday following losses from the financials, properties and technology stocks.

For the day, the index sank 185.12 points or 0.89 percent to finish at 20,661.06 after trading between 20,549.44 and 20,758.71.

Among the actives, AAC Technologies tanked 3.12 percent, while Alibaba Group tumbled 2.89 percent, Alibaba Health Info sank 0.77 percent, ANTA Sports crashed 3.07 percent, China Life Insurance slumped 1.18 percent, China Mengniu Dairy surrendered 2.73 percent, China Petroleum and Chemical (Sinopec) gained 028 percent, China Resources Land added 0.29 percent, CITIC slid 0.48 percent, CNOOC climbed 1.12 percent, Country Garden plummeted 5.77 percent, CSPC Pharmaceutical plunged 3.44 percent, Galaxy Entertainment retreated 1.53 percent, Hang Lung Properties lost 0.71 percent, Henderson Land skidded 1.07 percent, Hong Kong & China Gas dropped 0.96 percent, Industrial and Commercial Bank of China shed 0.73 percent, JD.com weakened 1.23 percent, Lenovo dipped 0.42 percent, Li Ning declined 2.13 percent, Meituan eased 0.32 percent, New World Development fell 0.56 percent, Techtronic Industries cratered 3.25 percent, Xiaomi Corporation stumbled 1.82 percent and WuXi Biologics jumped 1.57 percent.

The lead from Wall Street is broadly positive as the major averages opened higher on Tuesday and only accelerated as the day progressed.

The Dow surged 754.44 points or 2.43 percent to finish at 31,827.05, while the NASDAQ spiked 353.10 points or 3.11 percent to close at 11,713.15 and the S&P 500 jumped 105.84 points or 2.76 percent to end at 3,936.69.

The rebound on Wall Street came as optimism about upcoming earnings news fueled a heavy wave of buying.

In earnings news, toymaker Hasbro (HAS) and oil services giant Halliburton (HAL) beat the street, while IBM Corp. (IBM) and Johnson & Johnson (JNJ) provided disappointing guidance.

In economic news, the Commerce Department unexpectedly reported a continued decline in housing starts in June.

Crude oil futures ended sharply higher Tuesday amid signs of tighter supplies in the global oil market, while the dollar's continued weakness also contributed to the sharp rise in oil prices. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for August ended higher by $1.62 or 1.6 percent at $104.22 a barrel.