Hong Kong Stock Market May Extend Tuesday's Losses

(RTTNews) - The Hong Kong stock market on Tuesday ended the four-day winning streak in which it had soared more than 410 points or 1.9 percent. The Hang Seng Index now sits just above the 21,575-point plateau and it may take further damage again on Wednesday.

The global forecast for the Asian markets is mixed to lower, with earnings news likely to guide investors. The European and U.S. bourses were mixed and little changed and the Asian markets are expected to follow suit.

The Hang Seng finished modestly lower on Tuesday as losses from the technology stocks were mitigated by support from the property sector.

For the day, the index sank 169.08 points or 0.78 percent to finish at 21,577.64 after trading between 21,417.25 and 21,797.62.

Among the actives, Alibaba Group climbed 0.97 percent, while ANTA Sports added 0.35 percent, China Life Insurance tanked 3.22 percent, China Mengniu Dairy declined 1.85 percent, China Resources Land gained 0.26 percent, CITIC sank 1.01 percent, Country Garden skidded 1.23 percent, CSPC Pharmaceutical slumped 1.40 percent, Galaxy Entertainment tumbled 2.22 percent, Hang Lung Properties advanced 0.54 percent, Henderson Land rose 0.17 percent, Hong Kong & China Gas dropped 1.17 percent, Industrial and Commercial Bank of China shed 0.71 percent, JD.com retreated 1.72 percent, Lenovo fell 0.16 percent, Li Ning jumped 1.45 percent, Meituan lost 0.48 percent, Techtronic Industries plunged 4.10 percent, Xiaomi Corporation and Hengan International both stumbled 1.35 percent, WuXi Biologics plummeted 6.09 percent and Alibaba Health Info, CNOOC and New World Development were unchanged.

The lead from Wall Street is uninspired as the major averages opened lower on Tuesday, saw a mild recovery but only the NASDAQ managed to end in the green.

The Dow tumbled 391.76 points or 1.14 percent to finish at 33,910.85, while the NASDAQ rose 15.96 points or 0.14 percent to end at 11,095.11 and the S&P 500 dipped 8.12 points or 0.20 percent to close at 3,990.97.

The choppy trading on Wall Street came as traders expressed some uncertainty about the near-term outlook for the markets following recent strength.

A steep drop by Goldman Sachs (GS) weighed on the Dow after the company reported earnings that missed estimates. Travelers (TRV) also missed, while Morgan Stanley (MS) beat the street.

In economic news, the New York Federal Reserve noted a significant contraction in regional manufacturing activity in January.

Crude oil futures settled higher on Tuesday on expectations of a jump in demand following better than expected Chinese GDP data. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for February ended higher by $0.32 or 0.4 percent at $80.18 a barrel, the highest settlement since December 30.