Hong Kong Bourse May Reclaim 21,000-Point Level

(RTTNews) - The Hong Kong stock market has climbed higher in two of three trading days since the end of the five-day losing streak in which it plummeted almost 1,450 points or 7 percent. The Hang Seng Index now sits just above the 20,890-point plateau and it's called higher again on Thursday.

The global forecast for the Asian markets is upbeat, with technology stocks expected to lead the way higher. The European and U.S. markets were up and the Asian markets are expected to open in similar fashion.

The Hang Seng finished sharply higher on Wednesday following gains from the financials, properties, technology stocks and casinos.

For the day, the index jumped 229.16 points or 1.11 percent to finish at 20,890.22 after trading between 20,884.92 and 21,111.78.

Among the actives, Techtronic Industries skyrocketed 7.19 percent, while Meituan surged 2.96 percent, CSPC Pharmaceutical soared 2.70 percent, WuXi Biologics spiked 2.58 percent, Longfor tumbled 2.57 percent, ANTA Sports accelerated 2.46 percent, Alibaba Group rallied 2.28 percent, Alibaba Health Information jumped 2.13 percent, Li Ning strengthened 1.95 percent, JD.com climbed 1.91 percent, China Resources Land retreated 1.59 percent, Galaxy Entertainment improved 1.55 percent, Lenovo Group advanced 1.40 percent, Country Garden Services slumped 1.09 percent, Hang Lung Properties increased 0.86 percent, Henderson Land added 0.54 percent, CNOOC gained 0.40 percent, New World Development rose 0.38 percent, Industrial and Commercial Bank of China collected 0.24 percent, Xiaomi Corporation gathered 0.15 percent, Hong Kong & China Gas eased 0.12 percent, CITIC perked 0.12 percent and China Petroleum & Chemical (Sinopec), China Mengniu Dairy, CLP Holdings, Nongfu Springs and China Life Insurance were unchanged.

The lead from Wall Street is positive as the major averages opened mixed and remained that way through much of the session before a late rally pushed them all into the green by the close.

The Dow added 47.79 points or 0.15 percent to finish at 31,874.84, while the NASDAQ surged 184.50 points or 1.58 percent to end at 11,897.65 and the S&P 500 rose 23.21 points or 0.59 percent to close at 3,959.90.

The jump by the NASDAQ reflected strength among tech stocks, which came amid a positive reaction to earnings news from Netflix (NFLX). Semiconductor stocks also turned in a strong performance on the day, with the Philadelphia Semiconductor Index spiking by 2.5 percent.

On the other hand, gold stocks came under pressure over the course of the session, dragging the NYSE Arca Gold Bugs Index down by 3.1 percent. The weakness among gold stocks came as the price of gold for August delivery fell $10.50 to $1,700.20 an ounce.

In U.S. economic news, the National Association of Realtors reported that existing home sales tumbled by much more than expected in June.

Crude oil futures settled lower Wednesday amid concerns about the outlook for gasoline demand during the summer driving season. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for August ended lower by $1.96 or 1.9 percent at $102.26 a barrel on the expiration day.

Closer to home, Hong Kong will provide June numbers for consumer prices later today; in May, overall inflation was down 0.2 percent on month and up 1.2 percent on year.