Hong Kong Shares Tipped To Open Under Pressure On Monday

(RTTNews) - The Hong Kong stock market had moved lower in five straight sessions, shedding almost 1,000 points or 3.6 percent along the way. The Hang Seng Index now sits just above the 26,290-point plateau and it may extend its slide on Monday.

The global forecast for the Asian markets is bleak on concerns of an escalation in the trade war between U.S. and China. The European and U.S. markets were sharply lower and the Asian bourses are expected to follow that lead.

The Hang Seng finished sharply lower on Friday following heavy damage among the technology stocks, while the properties and financials offered mild support.

For the day, the index plunged 462.27 points or 1.73 percent to finish at 26,290.32 after trading between 26,247.04 and 26,558.87.

Among the actives, Alibaba Group plunged 4.56 percent, while Alibaba Health Info tumbled 2.51 percent, ANTA Sports weakened 1.91 percent, China Life Insurance climbed 0.91 percent, China Mengniu Dairy advanced 0.55 percent, China Resources Land climbed 1.17 percent, CITIC dropped 0.44 percent, CNOOC gained 0.32 percent, CSPC Pharmaceutical rallied 1.38 percent, Galaxy Entertainment tanked 4.13 percent, Haier Smart Home skidded 1.47 percent, Hang Lung Properties spiked 2.05 percent, Henderson Land added 0.37 percent, Hong Kong & China Gas jumped 1.75 percent, Industrial and Commercial Bank of China collected 0.18 percent, JD.com surrendered 2.87 percent, Lenovo retreated 2.55 percent, Li Auto stumbled 2.59 percent, Meituan contracted 1.83 percent, New World Development slumped 2.18 percent, Nongfu Spring sank 0.28 percent, Techtronic Industries dipped 0.16 percent, Xiaomi Corporation declined 2.44 percent, WuXi Biologics plummeted 7.57 percent and Li Ning was unchanged.

The lead from Wall Street is broadly negative as the major averages opened roughly flat on Friday put plummeted in the late morning and finished deep in the red at session lows.

The Dow plunged 878.82 points or 1.90 percent to finish at 45,479.60, while the NASDAQ crashed 820.20 points or 3.56 percent to close at 22,204.43 and the S&P 500 stumbled 182.60 points or 2.71 percent to end at 6,552.51.

For the week, the Dow dove 2.7 percent, the NASDAQ slumped 2.5 percent and the S&P sank 2.4 percent.

The sell-off on Wall Street came after President Donald Trump threatened to retaliate against China's expansion of export controls on rare earths. Trump accused China of "becoming very hostile" in a post on social media platform Truth Social and threatened a "massive increase" in tariffs on Chinese products coming into the U.S.

In U.S. economic news, a report released by the University of Michigan said its reading on U.S. consumer sentiment was unchanged in October, while year-ahead inflation expectations ebbed to 4.6 percent from 4.7 percent in September.

Crude oil prices tumbled on Friday after Trump threatened to massively increases tariffs on China in retaliation for its expansion of export controls on rare earths. West Texas Intermediate crude for November delivery was down $2.69 or 4.37 percent at $58.82 per barrel.