Continued Consolidation Called For Hang Seng

(RTTNews) - The Hong Kong stock market on Friday snapped the three-day winning streak in which it had surged almost 1,260 points or 8.3. The Hang Seng Index now rests just above the 15,950-point plateau and it may extend its losses on Monday.

The global forecast for the Asian markets is murky ahead of earnings news and a FOMC rate decision and statement later this week. The European markets were up and the U.S. bourses were mixed and the Asian markets figure to follow the latter lead.

The Hang Seng finished sharply lower on Friday with damage across the board, especially among the financials, properties and technology companies.

For the day, the index tumbled 259.77 points or 1.60 percent to finish at 15,952.23 after trading between 15,888.04 and 16,240.96.

Among the actives, Alibaba Group retreated 3.34 percent, while Alibaba Health Info declined 2.76 percent, ANTA Sports sank 0.92 percent, China Life Insurance skidded 1.18 percent, China Resources Land slid 0.41 percent, CITIC shed 0.80 percent, CNOOC rallied 0.97 percent, Country Garden tumbled 3.82 percent, CSPC Pharmaceutical slumped 1.80 percent, Galaxy Entertainment jumped 1.97 percent, Hang Lung Properties fell 0.51 percent, Hong Kong & China Gas lost 0.71 percent, Industrial and Commercial Bank of China dipped 0.26 percent, JD.com stumbled 2.30 percent, Lenovo plunged 9.94 percent, Li Ning dropped 1.04 percent, Meituan surrendered 3.89 percent, New World Development weakened 1.52 percent, Xiaomi Corporation tanked 3.93 percent, WuXi Biologics plummeted 18.17 percent and China Mengniu Dairy, Techtronic Industries, CK Infrastructure, Henderson Land and Haier Smart Home were unchanged.

The lead from Wall Street offers little guidance as the major averages opened lower on Friday, surged midday but plummeted late in the section to end mixed and little changed.

The Dow rose 60.33 points or 0.16 percent to finish at 38,109.43, while the NASDAQ slumped 55.14 points or 0.36 percent to close at 15,455.36 and the S&P 500 dipped 3.19 points or 0.07 percent to end at 4,890.97. For the week, the S&P 500 jumped 1.1 percent, the NASDAQ advanced 0.9 percent and the Dow climbed 0.7 percent.

The choppy trading on Wall Street came as traders weighed disappointing earnings news from semiconductor giant Intel (INTC) against tamer than expected consumer price inflation data.

Meanwhile, the Commerce Department released a report before the start of trading showing a bigger than expected slowdown in the annual rate of core consumer price growth in December.

Traders may also have been reluctant to make significant moves ahead of the Fed's monetary policy announcement this week. While the Fed is widely expected to leave interest rates unchanged, traders will be looking for clues about the timing of highly anticipated rate cuts.

Crude oil futures settled higher on Friday amid optimism about the outlook for oil demand thanks to upbeat U.S. economic data and the Chinese central bank's fresh stimulus. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for March added $0.65 or 0.84 percent at $78.01 a barrel. WTI crude futures spiked 6 percent for the week.