Hong Kong Shares May Open In The Red On Friday

(RTTNews) - The Hong Kong stock market turned lower again on Thursday, one day after ending the two-day slide in which it had slumped almost 400 points or 1.7 percent. The Hang Seng Index now sits just above the 26,480-point plateau and it's likely to extend those losses on Friday.

The global forecast for the Asian markets is soft ahead of the release of key inflation data from the United States. The European and U.S. markets were down and the Asian bourses are expected to open in similar fashion.

The Hand Seng finished modestly lower on Thursday following losses from the financial shares and properties and a mixed performance from the technology stocks.

For the day, the index lost 33.97 points or 0.13 percent to finish at 26,484.68 after trading between 26,403.52 and 26,640.53.

Among the actives, Alibaba Group sank 1.15 percent, while Alibaba Health Info cratered 1.36 percent, ANTA Sports dropped 1.28 percent, China Life Insurance skidded 1.39 percent, China Mengniu Dairy declined 1.72 percent, China Resources Land surrendered 2.19 percent, CITIC stumbled 2.02 percent, CNOOC lost 0.37 percent, CSPC Pharmaceutical slumped 1.59 percent, Galaxy Entertainment dipped 0.24 percent, Haier Smart Home plummeted 4.79 percent, Hang Lung Properties retreated 1.85 percent, Henderson Land weakened 1.46 percent, Hong Kong & China Gas shed 0.44 percent, Industrial and Commercial Bank of China tanked 2.41 percent, JD.com soared 3.46 percent, Lenovo plunged 3.57 percent, Li Auto accelerated 3.29 percent, Li Ning tumbled 1.99 percent, Meituan and WuXi Biologics both rose 0.10 percent, New World Development fell 0.25 percent, Nongfu Spring contracted 1.70 percent, Techtronic Industries crashed 1.26 percent and Xiaomi Corporation surged 4.48 percent.

The lead from Wall Street is weak as the major averages opened lower on Thursday and stayed in the red throughout the trading day.

The Dow dropped 173.96 points or 0.38 percent to finish at 45,947.32, while the NASDAQ sank 113.16 points or 0.50 percent to end at 22,384.70 and the S&P 500 lost 33.25 points or 0.50 percent to close at 6,604.72.

The continued weakness on Wall Street partly reflected ongoing concerns about the near-term outlook for the artificial intelligence trade.

Renewed uncertainty about the outlook for interest rates also weighed on the markets following the release of some upbeat U.S. economic data.

Later today, the Commerce Department is scheduled to release its report on personal income and spending in August, which includes the Fed's preferred readings on consumer price inflation.

Crude oil inched higher on Thursday amid the possibility of Russian oil exports being hit by sanctions by the U.S. West Texas Intermediate crude for November delivery was up $0.08 or 0.12 percent at $65.07 per barrel.