Higher Open Anticipated For Hong Kong Stock Market

(RTTNews) - The Hong Kong stock market has moved lower in consecutive trading days, dropping more than 460 points or 2.6 percent along the way. The Hang Seng Index now sits just above the 18,950-point plateau and it's tipped to halt its slide on Thursday.

The global forecast for the Asian markets is cautiously optimistic because of an improving outlook for interest rates. The European markets were mixed and the U.S. bourses were slightly higher and the Asian markets figure to split the difference.

The Hang Seng finished modestly lower on Wednesday as losses from the technology stocks and properties were dented by support from the financial sector.

For the day, the index lost 63.41 points or 0.33 percent to finish at 18,952.31 after trading between 18,711.03 and 19,004.42.

Among the actives, Alibaba Group climbed 0.72 percent, while Alibaba Health Info skidded 0.80 percent, ANTA Sports tumbled 1.83 percent, China Life Insurance plummeted 2.84 percent, China Mengniu Dairy dipped 0.18 percent, China Resources Land advanced 0.64 percent, CITIC dropped 0.59 percent, CNOOC jumped 1.16 percent, Country Garden surged 3.12 percent, CSPC Pharmaceutical declined 1.58 percent, Galaxy Entertainment eased 0.09 percent, Hang Lung Properties stumbled 1.23 percent, Henderson Land fell 0.22 percent, Hong Kong & China Gas rose 0.16 percent, Industrial and Commercial Bank of China collected 0.28 percent, JD.com sank 0.49 percent, Lenovo advanced 0.70 percent, Li Ning retreated 1.46 percent, Meituan slumped 1.08 percent, New World Development plunged 1.97 percent, Techtronic Industries surrendered 1.80 percent, Xiaomi Corporation lost 0.36 percent, WuXi Biologics tanked 1.96 percent and CK Infrastructure and Nongfu Spring were unchanged.

The lead from Wall Street suggests mild upside as the major averages opened firmly higher on Wednesday but faded as the day progressed, finishing with only slight gains.

The Dow climbed 109.31 points or 0.31 percent to finish at 35,061.21, while the NASDAQ rose 4.42 points or 0.03 percent to close at 14,358.02 and the S&P 500 perked 10.74 points or 0.24 percent to end at 4,565.72.

The strength on Wall Street extended the current upward trend, with the Dow closing higher for the eighth consecutive session. Encouraging inflation data helped trigger the recent advance, as traders grow increasingly optimistic the Federal Reserve is nearing the end of its interest rate hikes.

Upbeat earnings news has added to the positive sentiment, with regional banks U.S. Bancorp (USB), Ally Financial (ALLY) and Citizens Financial (CFG) posting standout gains after reporting better than expected quarterly earnings.

Meanwhile, traders shrugged off a Commerce Department report showing a sharp pullback in housing starts last month.

Oil futures pared early gains and settled lower on Wednesday after data showed a smaller-than-expected drop in U.S. crude inventories last week, while a stronger dollar weighed as well. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for August fell $0.40 or 0.5 percent at $75.35 a barrel.

Closer to home, Hong Kong will see June data for consumer prices later today; in May, overall inflation was down 0.3 percent on month and up 2.0 percent on year.