Renewed Support Predicted For Hong Kong Shares

(RTTNews) - The Hong Kong stock market on Thursday snapped the three-day winning streak in which it had jumped more than 1,000 points or 4.5 percent. The Hang Seng Index now sits just above the 21,900-point plateau although it's got a solid lead again for Friday's trade.

The global forecast for the Asian markets is upbeat, with oil and technology stocks expected to lead the way higher. The European and U.S. markets finished solidly higher and the Asian bourses are also expected to open in the green.

The Hang Seng finished modestly lower on Thursday following losses from the property stocks, oil companies and technology shares.

For the day, the index sank 162.86 points or 0.74 percent to finish at 21,909.76 after trading between 21,712.10 and 22,093.68.

Among the actives, Alibaba Group crashed 1.90 percent, while Alibaba Health Info tumbled 1.27 percent, ANTA Sports slumped 0.92 percent, China Life Insurance dropped 0.85 percent, China Mengniu Dairy retreated 1.03 percent, China Resources Land was down 0.19 percent, CITIC dipped 0.22 percent, CNOOC surrendered 1.75 percent, CSPC Pharmaceutical eased 0.16 percent, Galaxy Entertainment and Lenovo both fell 0.35 percent, Haier Smart Home skidded 0.89 percent, Hang Lung Properties sank 0.80 percent, Henderson Land declined 0.93 percent, Hong Kong & China Gas slid 0.29 percent, Industrial and Commercial Bank of China added 0.74 percent, JD.com plummeted 6.19 percent, Li Auto cratered 2.32 percent, Li Ning lost 0.40 percent, Meituan plunged 5.15 percent, New World Development stumbled 1.28 percent, Nongfu Spring shed 0.54 percent, Techtronic Industries tanked 1.45 percent, Xiaomi Corporation jumped 1.58 percent and WuXi Biologics gained 0.66 percent.

The lead from Wall Street is broadly positive as the major averages opened mixed but quickly moved sharply higher, finishing near daily highs.

The Dow spiked 486.83 points or 1.23 percent to finish at 40,093.40, while the NASDAQ rallied 457.99 points or 2.74 percent to close at 17,166.04 and the S&P 500 jumped 108.91 points or 2.03 percent to end at 5,484.77.

Semiconductor stocks turned in some of the best performances on the day, resulting in a 5.6 percent spike by Philadelphia Semiconductor Index. Texas Instruments (TXN) and Lam Research (LRCX) fueled the rally on better than expected quarterly earnings.

Later in the day, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said the U.S. may reach "an agreement on understanding" on trade with South Korea "as soon as next week."

On the economic front, the Labor Department said first-time claims for U.S. unemployment benefits edged modestly higher last week. Also, the Commerce Department said new orders for U.S. manufactured durable goods surged much more than expected in March

Crude oil showed a modest move back to the upside on Thursday following the steep drop in the previous session. West Texas Intermediate crude for June delivery rose $0.16 or 0.3 percent to $62.43 a barrel after plunging $1.40 or 2.2 percent to $62.27 a barrel a day earlier.