Higher Open Predicted For Hong Kong Stock Market

(RTTNews) - The Hong Kong stock market turned lower again on Tuesday, one day after snapping the three-day losing streak in which it had stumbled more than 370 points or 2.2 percent. The Hang Seng Index now sits just beneath the 16,530-point plateau although it's expected to erase those losses on Wednesday.

The global forecast for the Asian markets is positive ahead of the Federal Reserve's monetary policy announcement later today. The European and U.S. markets were up and the Asian bourses are expected to open in similar fashion.

The Hang Seng finished sharply lower on Tuesday with damage across the board, especially among the technology stocks and properties.

For the day, the index tumbled 207.62 points or 1.24 percent to finish at 16,529.48 after trading between 16,492.09 and 16,682.54.

Among the actives, Alibaba Group sank 1.25 percent, while Alibaba Health Info tanked 3.42 percent, CK Infrastructure added 0.22 percent, China Life Insurance retreated 1.98 percent, China Mengniu Dairy lost 1.05 percent, China Resources Land tumbled 2.02 percent, CITIC shed 1.24 percent, CNOOC rallied 1.49 percent, Country Garden plunged 3.53 percent, CSPC Pharmaceutical stumbled 1.83 percent, Galaxy Entertainment slipped 0.63 percent, Hang Lung Properties slumped 1.63 percent, Henderson Land eased 0.22 percent, Hong Kong & China Gas declined 1.68 percent, Industrial and Commercial Bank of China fell 1.01 percent, JD.com slid 0.65 percent, Lenovo dropped 1.26 percent, Li Ning jumped 1.70 percent, Meituan weakened 1.33 percent, New World Development skidded 1.29 percent, Techtronic Industries was down 0.49 percent, Xiaomi Corporation dipped 0.54 percent, WuXi Biologics plummeted 5.69 percent and ANTA Sports and Hengan International were unchanged.

The lead from Wall Street is upbeat as the major averages opened mixed on Tuesday but trended upward throughout the day and finished in the green.

The Dow jumped 320.33 points or 0.83 percent to finish at 39,110.76, while the NASDAQ rallied 3.34 points or 0.39 percent to close at 16,166.79 and the S&P 500 gained 29.09 points or 0.56 percent to end at 5,178.51.

The strength that emerged on Wall Street reflected a rebound by Nvidia (NVDA) after the company unveiled its latest line of AI chips; the company has lately been a key driver of market activity.

Traders also continue to look ahead to the Federal Reserve's highly anticipated monetary policy announcement. The Fed is widely expected to leave interest rates unchanged, but the central bank's accompanying statement could have a significant impact on the outlook for rates.

On the U.S. economic front, the Commerce Department noted a substantial rebound in new residential construction in the U.S. in February, while building permits also bounced higher.

Crude oil futures settled higher on Tuesday, rising for a second straight day as traders continued to assess the impact of Ukrainian attacks on Russian refineries. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for April climbed $0.75 at $83.47 a barrel.