Hong Kong Shares Expected To Open In The Red

(RTTNews) - The Hong Kong stock market on Monday ended the three-day winning streak in which it had surged more than 1,000 points or 4.5 percent. The Hang Seng Index now sits just beneath the 22,070-point plateau and it's likely to open under pressure again on Tuesday. The global forecast for the Asian markets suggests consolidation ahead of rate decisions this week from central banks in England and the United States. The European markets were mixed and little changed and the U.S. bourses were firmly in the red and the Asian markets figure to split the difference.

The Hang Seng finished sharply lower on Monday with damage across the board, especially among the technology stocks and properties. For the day, the index plummeted 619.17 points or 2.73 percent to finish at 22,069.73 after trading between 21,992.51 and 22,623.81. Among the actives, Alibaba Group plunged 7.08 percent, while Alibaba Health Info plummeted 7.96 percent, ANTA Sports retreated 4.11 percent, China Life Insurance slumped 3.43 percent, China Mengniu Dairy jumped 0.92 percent, China Resources Land and Galaxy Entertainment both shed 1.01 percent, CNOOC skidded 2.23 percent, Country Garden tanked 5.92 percent, CSPC Pharmaceutical dropped 1.38 percent, Hang Lung Properties added 0.26 percent, Henderson Land fell 0.50 percent, Hong Kong & China Gas surged 3.20 percent, Industrial and Commercial Bank of China weakened 2.33 percent, JD.com and WuXi Biologics both surrendered 5.57 percent, Lenovo sank 1.27 percent, Li Ning declined 4.26 percent, Meituan lost 0.80 percent, New World Development slid 0.41 percent, Techtronic Industries eased 0.30 percent, Xiaomi Corporation tumbled 5.65 percent and CITIC was unchanged.

The lead from Wall Street is broadly negative as the major averages opened lower on Monday and moved deeper into the red as the day progressed, finishing near session lows.

The Dow plunged 260.99 points or 0.77 percent to finish at 33,717.09, while the NASDAQ tumbled 227.90 points or 1.96 percent to close at 11,393.81 and the S&P 500 dropped 52.79 points or 1.30 percent to end at 4,017.77.

The weakness on Wall Street came as investors looked to lock in gains following recent strength in the markets, and also to consolidate positions ahead of the Federal Reserve's rate decision on Wednesday. The Fed is widely expected to slow the pace of interest rate hikes to 25 basis points. Traders will pay close attention to the accompanying statement for clues about the outlook for further rate hikes.

Recent upbeat economic data has generated some optimism the Fed could engineer a soft landing but has also led to concerns the central bank will need to keep rates at elevated levels for longer than anticipated.

Oil prices fell to near three-week lows on Monday amid concerns about global economic growth and the outlook for oil demand following Russia's decision to allow its energy companies to determine their own pricing and exports. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for March dropped $1.78 or 2.2 percent at $77.90 a barrel.