Higher Open Tipped For Hong Kong Stock Market

(RTTNews) - The Hong Kong stock market has finished lower in five straight sessions, tumbling more than 800 points or 4.8 percent in that span. The Hang Seng Index now rests just above the 16,220-point plateau although it's overdue for support on Tuesday.

The global forecast for the Asian markets is upbeat on bargain hunting and falling bond yields. 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 Monday with damage across the board, especially among the financials, properties and technology stocks.

For the day, the index tumbled 310.88 points or 1.88 percent to finish at 16,224.45 after trading between 16,144.56 and 16,592.06.

Among the actives, Alibaba Group fell 1.81 percent, while Alibaba Health Info and Xiaomi Corporation both tumbled 3.88 percent, ANTA Sports was down 0.78 percent, China Life Insurance declined 3.53 percent, China Mengniu Dairy retreated 3.87 percent, China Resources Land weakened 2.78 percent, CITIC sank 2.09 percent, CNOOC gained 0.74 percent, Country Garden skidded 2.71 percent, CSPC Pharmaceutical slumped 3.07 percent, Galaxy Entertainment stumbled 3.27 percent, Hang Lung Properties dropped 2.33 percent, Henderson Land slid 1.54 percent, Hong Kong & China Gas eased 0.68 percent, Industrial and Commercial Bank of China lost 1.87 percent, JD.com surrendered 3.89 percent, Lenovo slipped 1.17 percent, Li Ning plunged 4.46 percent, Meituan plummeted 4.89 percent, New World Development dipped 0.90 percent, Techtronic Industries shed 1.90 percent and WuXi Biologics tanked 4.36 percent.

The lead from Wall Street is firm as the major averages opened mixed on Monday but trended steadily upward as the day progressed and finished solidly in the green.

The Dow climbed 216.90 points or 0.58 percent to finish at 37,683.01, while the NASDAQ surged 319.70 points or 2.20 percent to end at 14,843.77 and the S&P 500 rallied 66.30 points or 1.41 percent to close at 4,763.54.

A drop in bond yields, and optimism about the outlook for stocks despite recent uncertainty about the likelihood of near-term interest rate cuts helped push stock prices up.

The Dow was weighed down by Boeing shares, which fell 8 percent after the Federal Aviation Administration ordered airlines to ground dozens of the company's 737 Max 9 aircraft after a door plug blew out in the middle of an Alaska Airlines flight on Friday.

Oil prices fell sharply on Monday as Saudi Arabia's decision to cut prices offset concerns about an escalation in the Middle East conflict. West Texas Intermediate Crude futures for February ended down $3.04 or 4.4 percent at $70.77 a barrel.