Hong Kong Shares May See Support On Friday

(RTTNews) - The Hong Kong stock market has finished lower in back-to-back sessions, slumping more than 250 points or 1.7 percent along the way. The Hang Seng Index now rests just beneath the 15,880-point plateau although it may stop the bleeding on Friday.

The global forecast for the Asian markets is mixed and flat ahead of the Lunar New Year holiday. The European shares were mixed and the U.S. bourses were slightly higher and the Asian markets figure to split the difference.

The Hang Seng finished sharply lower on Tuesday as the financials, properties and technology stocks ended mostly in the red.

For the day, the index stumbled 203.82 points or 1.27 percent to finish at 15,878.07 after trading between 15,821.86 and 16,093.52.

Among the actives, Alibaba Group plunged 6.14 percent, while Alibaba Health Info jumped 1.57 percent, ANTA Sports slumped 1.07 percent, China Life Insurance sank 0.95 percent, China Mengniu Dairy and Lenovo both advanced 0.99 percent, China Resources Land strengthened 1.48 percent, CITIC tanked 2.80 percent, CNOOC added 0.27 percent, Country Garden rallied 1.25 percent, CSPC Pharmaceutical shed 0.83 percent, Galaxy Entertainment slid 0.58 percent, Haier Smart Home stumbled 2.32 percent, Hang Lung Properties retreated 2.03 percent, Henderson Land dipped 0.24 percent, Hong Kong & China Gas skidded 1.05 percent, Industrial and Commercial Bank of China dropped 1.03 percent, JD.com tumbled 2.60 percent, Li Ning lost 0.64 percent, Meituan eased 0.15 percent, New World Development climbed 1.15 percent, Techtronic Industries declined 1.92 percent, Xiaomi Corporation fell 0.63 percent and WuXi Biologics plummeted 7.61 percent.

The lead from Wall Street is cautiously optimistic as the major averages opened slightly higher on Thursday but spent much of the day in the red before finally settling with slight gains. Despite the choppy trading, the S&P 500 and the Dow reached new record closing highs.

The Dow added 48.91 points or 0.13 percent to finish at 38,726.33, while the NASDAQ gained 37.07 points or 0.24 percent to end at 15,793.71 and the S&P 500 rose 2.85 points or 0.06 percent to close at 4,997.91.

The choppy trading on Wall Street came as traders expressed some uncertainty about whether the markets can sustain their recent upward trend.

Traders also reacted to the latest earnings news as Arm Holdings (ARM) and entertainment giant Disney (DIS) surged after solid results, while PayPal (PYPL) tumbled after providing a disappointing forecast.

In economic news, the Labor Department said first-time claims for U.S. unemployment benefits fell by more than expected last week.

Crude oil prices rose sharply Thursday, gaining for a fourth straight session as escalating tensions in the Middle East raised concerns about potential trade and supply disruptions. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for March ended higher by $2.36 or 2.1 percent at $76.22 a barrel.