Hang Seng Poised To Make Back Some Of Monday's Losses

(RTTNews) - The Hong Kong stock market turned lower again on Monday, one session after ending the three-day slide in which it had slumped more than 480 points or 2.7 percent. The Hang Seng Index now sits just beneath the 18,670-point plateau although it figures to rebound again on Tuesday.

The global forecast for the Asian markets is cautiously optimistic ahead of Wednesday's FOMC interest rate decision. The European and U.S. markets were mostly higher and the Asian bourses are expected to open in similar fashion.

The Hang Seng finished sharply lower on Monday with damage across the board, particularly among the financials, properties and technology stocks.

For the day, the index plummeted 407.11 points or 2.13 percent to finish at 18,668.15 after trading between 18,562.12 and 18,946.56.

Among the actives, Alibaba Group shed 1.92 percent, while ANTA Sports retreated 3.03 percent, China Life Insurance weakened 2.61 percent, China Mengniu Dairy declined 3.06 percent, China Resources Land tanked 4.05 percent, CITIC plunged 5.66 percent, CNOOC slid 1.47 percent, Country Garden plummeted 17.85 percent, CSPC Pharmaceutical gave away 0.95 percent, Galaxy Entertainment dipped 1.30 percent, Hang Lung Properties surrendered 3.81 percent, Henderson Land sank 1.94 percent, Hong Kong & China Gas slipped 0.78 percent, Industrial and Commercial Bank of China lost 1.91 percent, JD.com slumped 2.62 percent, Lenovo stumbled 2.66 percent, Li Ning fell 1.62 percent, Meituan skidded 2.50 percent, New World Development was down 1.63 percent, Techtronic Industries tumbled 3.08 percent, Xiaomi Corporation dropped 2.30 percent, WuXi Biologics and CK Infrastructure both eased 0.37 percent and Alibaba Health Info was unchanged.

The lead from Wall Street suggests mild upside as the major averages opened higher, faded as the day progressed but still finished with modest gains.

The Dow jumped 183.55 points or 0.52 percent to finish at 35,411.24, while the NASDAQ rose 26.06 points or 0.19 percent to close at 14,058.87 and the S&P 500 added18.30 points or 0.40 percent to end at 4,554.64.

The markets continued to benefit from recent upward momentum, which has contributed to an 11-day winning streak for the Dow, the longest since February 2017. The recent strength lifted all three major averages to their best levels in over a year last week.

Overall trading activity remained somewhat subdued, however, as traders looked ahead to the Federal Reserve's monetary policy decision on Wednesday.

With the Fed widely expected to raise interest rates by another 25 basis point, traders are likely to pay close attention to the accompanying statement for clues about the outlook for rates.

Crude oil futures settled sharply higher Monday, buoyed by increased demand for gasoline and export cuts by Saudi Arabia and Russia. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for September ended higher by $1.67 or 2.2 percent at $78.74 a barrel.

Closer to home, Hong Kong will provide June numbers for imports, exports and trade balance later today. Imports are expected to sink 11.1 percent on year after dropping 16.7 percent in May. Exports are called lower by an annual 24.2 percent after slipping 15.6 percent in the previous month. The trade deficit is pegged at HKD42.4 billion following the HKD26.4 billion shortfall a month earlier.