Bargain Hunting Expected To Boost Hong Kong Shares

(RTTNews) - The Hong Kong stock market has moved lower in four straight sessions, surrendering more than 780 points or 4.7 percent along the way. The Hang Seng Index now rests just above the 16,990-point plateau although it's expected to open higher on Wednesday.

The global forecast for the Asian markets is positive on bargain hunting and earnings news. The European and U.S. markets were up and the Asian markets are expected to follow that lead.

The Hang Seng finished sharply lower on Tuesday following losses from the financial shares, oil companies, properties and technology companies.

For the day, the index stumbled 180.60 points or 1.05 percent to finish at 16,991.53 after trading between 16,879.66 and 17,139.53.

Among the actives, Alibaba Group was down 1.66 percent, while Alibaba Health Info slumped 1.78 percent, ANTA Sports skidded 1.69 percent, China Life Insurance surrendered 2.71 percent, China Mengniu Dairy tanked 2.80 percent, China Resources Land declined 2.03 percent, CITIC shed 0.90 percent, CNOOC eased 0.15 percent, Country Garden retreated 2.13 percent, CSPC Pharmaceutical surged 3.23 percent, ENN Energy soared 2.42 percent, Galaxy Entertainment lost 0.57 percent, Hang Lung Properties sank 0.97 percent, Henderson Land added 0.24 percent, Hong Kong & China Gas dropped 1.45 percent, Industrial and Commercial Bank of China fell 0.53 percent, JD.com plunged 2.85 percent, Lenovo spiked 1.09 percent, Li Ning stumbled 1.80 percent, Meituan slid 0.28 percent, New World Development plummeted 3.10 percent, Techtronic Industries rallied 0.44 percent, Xiaomi Corporation tumbled 2.56 percent, WuXi Biologics rose 0.11 percent and Nongfu was unchanged.

The lead from Wall Street is upbeat as the major averages opened higher on Tuesday and remained in the green throughout the session.

The Dow jumped 204.97 points or 0.62 percent to finish at 33,141.38, while the NASDAQ gained 121.55 points or 0.93 percent to end at 13,139.88 and the S&P 500 added 30.64 points or 0.73 percent to close at 4,247.68.

The strength on Wall Street reflected a positive reaction to the latest batch of earnings news, as a number of big-name companies reported better than expected quarterly results, including General Electric (GE), 3M Co. (MMM) and Coca-Cola (KO).

Crude oil prices fell sharply Tuesday, extending losses to a third straight session amid concerns about the outlook for energy demand, while the dollar's rally also weighed. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for December sank $1.75 or 2.1 percent at $83.74 a barrel.