Hong Kong Shares Tipped To Halt Slide On Friday

(RTTNews) - The Hong Kong stock market has finished lower in three straight sessions, giving away more than 525 points or 2.6 percent along the way. The Hang Seng Index now sits just above the 20,350-point plateau although it may stop the bleeding on Friday.

The global forecast for the Asian markets is upbeat, with bargain hunting expected after selling and uncertainty earlier in the week. The European markets were mixed and the U.S. bourses were up and the Asian markets figure to split the difference.

The Hang Seng finished modestly lower on Thursday following losses from the property and oil stocks, while the technology companies were mixed.

For the day, the index shed 72.49 points or 0.35 percent to finish at 20,351,35 after trading between 20,323.24 and 20,601.22.

Among the actives, Alibaba Group spiked 2.37 percent, while Alibaba Health Info rallied 1.90 percent, ANTA Sports perked 0.10 percent, China Life Insurance lost 0.29 percent, China Mengniu Dairy advanced 0.56 percent, China Resources Land slumped 0.67 percent, CITIC and Nongfu Spring both eased 0.11 percent, CNOOC shed 0.35 percent, Country Garden tanked 1.49 percent, CSPC Pharmaceutical soared 2.57 percent, Galaxy Entertainment added 0.29 percent, Hang Lung Properties sank 0.51 percent, Henderson Land plunged 2.33 percent, Hong Kong & China Gas tumbled 1.21 percent, Industrial and Commercial Bank of China collected 0.25 percent, JD.com jumped 1.79 percent, Lenovo surged 5.52 percent, Li Ning declined 0.95 percent, Meituan stumbled 0.64 percent, New World Development dropped 0.47 percent, Techtronic Industries plummeted 18.97 percent, Xiaomi Corporation retreated 0.82 percent and WuXi Biologics fell 0.18 percent.

The lead from Wall Street ends up firm as the major averages opened higher on Thursday, slumped midday but rebounded to end firmly in the green.

The Dow climbed 108.82 points or 0.33 percent to finish at 33,153.91, while the NASDAQ jumped 83.33 points or 0.72 percent to close at 11,590.40 and the S&P 500 rose 21.27 points or 0.53 percent to end at 4,012.32.

Buying interest remained somewhat subdued as interest rate concerns continued to hang over the markets following Wednesday's release of the minutes of the latest Federal Reserve meeting.

The Fed minutes offered few surprised but reiterated that the central bank will continue to raise interest rates in its battle against inflation.

In economic news, the Labor Department noted an unexpected dip in first-time claims for U.S. unemployment benefits last week, while the Commerce Department said the U.S. economy grew by slightly less than estimated Q4 of 2022.

After trending lower in recent sessions, the price of crude oil showed a strong move back to the upside on Thursday, despite a bigger than expected increase in U.S. crude oil inventories. West Texas Intermediate crude for April delivery spiked $1.44 or 2.0 percent to $75.39 a barrel.