Renewed Consolidation Likely For Hong Kong Stock Market

(RTTNews) - The Hong Kong stock market moved higher again on Monday, one session after snapping the four-day winning streak in which it had rallied more than 570 points or 2.4 percent. The Hang Seng Index now rests just above the 24,900-point plateau although it may hand back those gains on Tuesday. The global forecast for the Asian markets is soft ahead of key U.S. inflation data. The European markets were mixed and the U.S. bourses were down and the Asian markets also figure to track into the red.

The Hang Send finished modestly higher on Monday as the technology stocks and properties were mostly in the green. For the day, the index improved 47.99 points or 0.19 percent to finish at 24,906.81 after trading between 24,775.73 and 24,969.30. Among the actives, Alibaba Group soared 1.89 percent, while Alibaba Health Info added 0.41 percent, ANTA Sports rose 0.17 percent, China Life Insurance tanked 2.23 percent, China Mengniu Dairy lost 0.31 percent, China Resources Land spiked 1.88 percent, CITIC sank 0.60 percent, CNOOC dropped 0.75 percent, CSPC Pharmaceutical advanced 0.97 percent, Galaxy Entertainment stumbled 2.90 percent, Haier Smart Home gained 0.40 percent, Hang Lung Properties improved 0.74 percent, Henderson Land rallied 1.50 percent, Hong Kong & China Gas jumped 1.42 percent, Industrial and Commercial Bank of China slumped 1.30 percent, JD.com shed 0.49 percent, Lenovo perked 0.09 percent, Li Auto retreated 1.50 percent, Li Ning accelerated 1.64 percent, Meituan declined 1.32 percent, New World Development tumbled 2.26 percent, Nongfu Spring fell 0.04 percent, Techtronic Industries surged 4.35 percent, Xiaomi Corporation skidded 0.88 percent and WuXi Biologics climbed 1.23 percent.

The lead from Wall Street is negative as the major averages opened mixed on Monday, rallied midday but then slumped in the afternoon and finished under water.

The Dow dropped 200.52 points or 0.45 percent to finish at 43,975.09, while the NASDAQ sank 64.62 points or 0.30 percent to close at 21,385.40 and the S&P 500 fell 16.00 points or 0.25 percent to end at 6,373.45.

The choppy trading on Wall Street came as traders seemed reluctant to make significant moves ahead of the release of several closely watched economic reports in the coming days.

The Labor Department's report on consumer price inflation in the month of July is likely to be in focus later today as the data could impact the outlook for interest rates.

Ahead of the release of the data, CME Group's FedWatch Tool is indicating an 86.5 percent chance the Federal Reserve will lower interest rates by a quarter point next month.

Crude oil edged higher on Monday as Russia shrugged off the U.S. deadline to end its war with Ukraine or face sanctions. West Texas Intermediate crude for September delivery was up $0.17 or 0.27 percent at $64.05 per barrel.