Hong Kong Shares Tipped To Open In The Red

(RTTNews) - The Hong Kong stock market on Thursday ended the three-day winning streak in which it had climbed more than 750 points or 3 percent. The Hang Seng Index now rests just beneath the 25,520-point plateau and it may see continued consolidation on Friday.

The global forecast for the Asian markets suggests little movement ahead of the meeting between the U.S. and Russian presidents later today to discuss ways to end the Russia-Ukraine war. The European markets were up and the U.S. bourses were mixed and flat and the Asian markets figure to follow the latter lead.

The Hang Seng finished modestly lower on Thursday following weakness from the financials and mixed performances from the technology and property sectors.

For the day, the index dropped 94.35 points or 0.37 percent to finish at 25,519.32 after trading between 25,449.80 and 25,766.62.

Among the actives, Alibaba Group and CKI Holdings both tumbled 1.54 percent, while Alibaba Health Info retreated 1.17 percent, ANTA Sports spiked 2.72 percent, China Life Insurance soared 3.60 percent, China Mengniu Dairy slumped 0.66 percent, China Resources Land rallied 2.01 percent, CITIC advanced 0.59 percent, CNOOC shed 0.11 percent, CSPC Pharmaceutical plunged 2.52 percent, Galaxy Entertainment strengthened 1.58 percent, Haier Smart Home and Industrial and Commercial Bank of China both dropped 0.16 percent, Hang Lung Properties jumped 1.74 percent, Henderson Land improved 0.84 percent, Hong Kong & China Gas added 0.55 percent, HSBC fell 0.31 percent, JD.com tanked 1.81 percent, Lenovo plummeted 5.99 percent, Li Auto stumbled 1.60 percent, Li Ning surged 5.88 percent, Meituan rose 0.08 percent, New World Development accelerated 1.67 percent, Nongfu Spring sank 0.13 percent, Techtronic Industries skidded 0.78 percent, Xiaomi Corporation eased 0.09 percent and WuXi Biologics perked 0.06 percent.

The lead from Wall Street offers little guidance as the major averages opened lower on Thursday and spent most of the day in the red before finally ending mixed and little changed.

The Dow shed 11.01 points or 0.02 percent to finish at 44,911.26, while the NASDAQ dipped 2.47 points or 0.01 percent to close at 21,710.67 and the S&P 500 rose 1.96 points or 0.03 percent to end at a record 6,468.54.

The early weakness on Wall Street followed the release of a Labor Department report showing producer prices in the U.S. increased by much more than expected in the month of July.

The hotter-than-expected producer price inflation data partly offset optimism about a September interest rate cut generated by the consumer price inflation data released earlier this week.

However, CME Group's FedWatch Tool is currently still indicating a 92.6 percent chance the Federal Reserve will lower rates by a quarter point next month, which helped keep selling pressure relatively subdued.

Crude oil jumped on Thursday ahead of a crucial meeting between the U.S. and Russian presidents later today in Alaska to discuss ways to end the Russia-Ukraine war. West Texas Intermediate crude for September delivery was up $1.32 or 2.11 percent at $63.97 per barrel.

Closer to home, Hong Kong will see Q2 figures for gross domestic product later today; in the first quarter, GDP was up 0.4 percent on quarter and 3.1 percent on year.