Hong Kong Stock Market Tipped To See Additional Support

(RTTNews) - The Hong Kong stock market bounced higher again on Monday, one session after halting the three-day winning streak in which it had surged almost 1,260 points or 8.3 percent. The Hang Seng Index now rests just above the 16,075-point plateau and it's expected to open in the green again on Tuesday.

The global forecast for the Asian markets is upbeat on easing treasury yields and ahead of the Federal Reserve's policy meeting later this week. The European markets were mixed and flat and the U.S. bourses were up and the Asian markets figure to follow the latter lead. The Hang Seng finished modestly higher on Monday as gains from the financials and properties were capped by weakness from the technology shares. For the day, the index advanced 125.01 points or 0.78 percent to finish at 16,077.24 after trading between 16,012.59 and 16,258.45.

Among the actives, Alibaba Group jumped 2.40 percent, while Alibaba Health Info tumbled 1.26 percent, ANTA Sports spiked 3.07 percent, China Life Insurance added 0.86 percent, China Mengniu Dairy soared 4.29 percent, China Resources Land improved 2.07 percent, CITIC surged 4.32 percent, CNOOC gained 0.82 percent, Country Garden was up 0.36 percent, CSPC Pharmaceutical dropped 0.83 percent, Galaxy Entertainment gathered 0.72 percent, Hang Lung Properties increased 0.92 percent, Henderson Land climbed 2.13 percent, Hong Kong & China Gas rallied 2.51 percent, Industrial and Commercial Bank of China collected 1.05 percent, JD.com strengthened 2.19 percent, Lenovo plunged 4.76 percent, Li Ning accelerated 3.50 percent, Meituan advanced 0.90 percent, New World Development perked 0.58 percent, Techtronic Industries sank 0.34 percent, Xiaomi Corporation rose 0.76 percent and WuXi Biologics plummeted 5.70 percent.

The lead from Wall Street is positive as the major averages opened flat on Monday and stayed that way for much of the session before a late surge sent them solidly into the green.

The Dow rallied 224.02 points or 0.59 percent to finish at 38,333.45, while the NASDAQ jumped 172.68 points or 1.12 percent to close at 15,628.04 and the S&P 500 gained 36.96 points or 0.76 percent to end at 4,927.93.

The strength that emerged on Wall Street reflected a notable pullback by treasury yields, which gave ground after moving higher last Friday. Yields fell to new lows and stocks rallied late in the session as the Treasury Department reduced its estimates for first quarter borrowing.

Earlier in the day, traders seemed reluctant to make significant ahead of several key events this week, including the Federal Reserve's monetary policy announcement on Wednesday.

While the Fed is widely expected to leave interest rates unchanged, traders will be looking for clues about the likelihood of rate cuts at upcoming meetings. Recent economic data has led many economists to believe the Fed is unlikely to cut rates in March, as traders had previously hoped.

Crude oil prices fell on Monday as concerns about the outlook for demand outweighed the ongoing geopolitical tensions in the Middle East, while a firmer dollar also weighed on oil prices. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for March slipped $1.23 or 1.6 percent to settle at $76.88 a barrel.