Renewed Support Anticipated For Hong Kong Shares

(RTTNews) - The Hong Kong stock market on Tuesday snapped the two-day winning streak in which it had picked up[ more than 110 points or 0.7 percent. The Hang Seng Index now rests just above the 16,340-point plateau although it's expected to rebound on Wednesday.

The global forecast for the Asian markets suggests mild upside on strength from technology shares and optimism over the outlook for interest rates. The European markets were mixed and flat and the U.S. bourses were up and the Asian markets figure to split the difference.

The Hang Zeng finished sharply lower on Tuesday with damage across the board, particularly among the technology stocks and properties.

For the day, the index plunged 280.69 points or 1.69 percent to finish at 16,340.41 after trading between 16,271.50 and 16,857.84.

Among the actives, Alibaba Group tumbled 2.04 percent, while Alibaba Health Info surrendered 3.65 percent, ANTA Sports and Li Ning both fell 0.20 percent, China Life Insurance lost 0.31 percent, China Mengniu Dairy sank 0.65 percent, China Resources Land retreated 1.48 percent, CITIC dropped 0.94 percent, CNOOC added 0.65 percent, Country Garden plummeted 6.13 percent, CSPC Pharmaceutical rose 0.29 percent, Galaxy Entertainment eased 0.12 percent, Hang Lung Properties skidded 0.95 percent, Henderson Land shed 0.43 percent, JD.com gained 0.47 percent, Lenovo slumped 0.96 percent, Meituan tanked 3.89 percent, New World Development stumbled 1.01 percent, Techtronic Industries rallied 1.31 percent, Xiaomi Corporation declined 1.75 percent, WuXi Biologics plunged 5.27 percent and Hong Kong & China Gas and Industrial and Commercial Bank of China were unchanged.

The lead from Wall Street upbeat as the major averages opened modestly higher on Tuesday and continued to tick higher as the day progressed.

The Dow climbed 159.36 points or 0.43 percent to finish at 37,545.33, while the NASDAQ added 81.60 points or 0.54 percent to close at 15,074.57 and the S&P 500 rose 20.12 points or 0.42 percent to end at 4,774.75.

A surge by shares of Intel (INTC) provided a boost to the markets following news the Israeli government will give the company a $3.2 billion grant toward the construction of a new $25 billion chip-making facility in southern Israel.

Stocks also continued to benefit from optimism about the outlook for interest rates following last week's tamer-than-expected consumer price inflation data.

On the heels of the data, CME Group's FedWatch Tool is indicating a 72.7 percent chance the Federal Reserve will cut rates by a quarter point in March.

Oil prices surged higher Tuesday amid escalating tensions in the Middle East and concerns over trade disruptions following attacks on ships. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for February jumped $2.01 or 2.7 percent at $75.57 a barrel.