Hong Kong Shares Expected To Open Under Pressure

(RTTNews) - The Hong Kong stock market bounced higher again on Wednesday, one session after ending the two-day winning streak in which it had surged almost 900 points or 5 percent. The Hang Seng Index now rests just above the 19,250-point plateau although it's tipped to see renewed consolidation on Thursday.

The global forecast for the Asian markets is soft on nervousness over the outlook for interest rates. The European markets were down and the U.S. bourses were mixed and the Asian markets figure to split the difference.

The Hang Seng finished modestly higher on Wednesday following gains from the financial shares and technology stocks, while the properties were mixed.

For the day, the index advanced 152.72 points or 0.80 percent to finish at 19,252.00 after trading between 19,196.09 and 19,410.48.

Among the actives, Alibaba Group spiked 2.06 percent, while Alibaba Health Info and ANTA Sports both improved 1.44 percent, China Mengniu Dairy increased 0.82 percent, China Resources Land advanced 1.06 percent, CITIC rose 0.21 percent, CNOOC lost 0.16 percent, Country Garden fell 0.10 percent, CSPC Pharmaceutical declined 0.89 percent, Galaxy Entertainment surged 2.61 percent, Hang Lung Properties dropped 0.60 percent, Henderson Land gained 0.42 percent, Industrial and Commercial Bank of China collected 0.70 percent, JD.com rallied 1.98 percent, Lenovo jumped 1.90 percent, Li Ning soared 2.16 percent, Meituan climbed 1.40 percent, New World Development shed 0.20 percent, Techtronic Industries skyrocketed 5.68 percent, Xiaomi Corporation strengthened 1.84 percent, WuXi Biologics added 0.58 percent and China Life Insurance and Hong Kong & China Gas were unchanged.

The lead from Wall Street offers little clarity as the major averages opened higher on Wednesday; the Dow kept bouncing up and down but finished in the green, while the NASDAQ and S&P quickly headed south and remained in the red.

The Dow added 94.93 points or 0.28 percent to finish at 33,668.21, while the NASDAQ dropped 168.22 points or 1.27 percent to end at 13,108.19 and the S&P 500 sank 15.82 points or 0.37 percent to close at 4,268.03.

The sharp pullback by the NASDAQ came after the Bank of Canada once again raised interest rates after leaving rates unchanged for two straight meetings, raising the concerns about the outlook for U.S. rates.

The Federal Reserve is scheduled to announce its latest monetary policy decision next Wednesday, with the central bank widely expected to leave interest rates unchanged.

In U.S. economic news, the Commerce Department said the U.S. trade deficit widened significantly in April as the value of exports plummeted.

Crude oil prices climbed higher on Wednesday as Saudi Arabia's recent decision to cut crude output outweighed concerns about demand, while data showing a drop in U.S. crude inventories last week also supported prices. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for July ended higher by $0.79 or 1.1 percent at $72.53 a barrel.