Hong Kong Shares Likely To Open In The Red

(RTTNews) - The Hong Kong stock market on Wednesday ended the four-day winning streak in which it had surged more than 1,400 points or 6.7 percent. The Hang Seng Index now rests just beneath the 22,000-point plateau and it's likely to open under pressure again on Thursday.

The global forecast for the Asian markets is flat and mixed to lower on recession concerns and sliding crude oil prices. The European markets were down and the U.S. bourses were mixed and little changed and the Asian markets figure to split the difference.

The Hang Seng finished sharply lower on Wednesday following losses from the properties, oil companies and technology stocks.

For the day, the index plunged 422.08 points or 1.88 percent to finish at 21,996.89 after trading between 21,844.05 and 22,289.07.

Among the actives, AAC Technologies and Hang Lung Properties both sank 1.59 percent, while Alibaba Group declined 3.05 percent, Alibaba Health Info plunged 4.86 percent, ANTA Sports plummeted 4.95 percent, China Life Insurance was down 0.44 percent, China Mengniu Dairy stumbled 2.92 percent, China Petroleum and Chemical (Sinopec) lost 1.11 percent, China Resources Land added 0.28 percent, CITIC shed 1.47 percent, CNOOC eased 0.38 percent, Country Garden dipped 0.99 percent, CSPC Pharmaceutical tanked 3.42 percent, Galaxy Entertainment fell 1.05 percent, Henderson Land slipped 0.84 percent, Hong Kong & China Gas dropped 1.96 percent, Industrial and Commercial Bank of China collected 0.65 percent, JD.com surrendered 3.08 percent, Lenovo weakened 2.42 percent, Li Ning retreated 2.96 percent, Meituan skidded 2.31 percent, New World Development slid 1.04 percent, Techtronic Industries cratered 6.53 percent, Xiaomi Corporation slumped 2.95 percent and WuXi Biologics tumbled 3.20 percent.

The lead from Wall Street is fairly flat as the major averages opened lower on Wednesday, spiked up and down throughout the day before finally ending the session mixed and little changed.

The Dow climbed 82.32 points or 0.27 percent to finish at 31,029.31, while the NASDAQ dipped 3.65 points or 0.03 percent to close at 11,177.89 and the S&P 500 eased 2.72 points or 0.07 percent to end at 3,818.83.

The choppy trading on Wall Street came as uncertainty about the near-term outlook for the markets kept traders on the sidelines following recent volatility.

Traders also kept an eye on remarks by Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell, who participated in a panel discussion at the European Central Bank Forum on Central Banking. Powell reiterated that the U.S. economy is "well positioned to withstand tighter monetary policy" but cautioned there's no guarantee the Fed can engineer a "soft landing."

In economic news, revised data from the Commerce Department showed U.S. economic activity shrank by slightly more than previously estimated in the first quarter of 2022.

Crude oil prices drifted lower Wednesday, snapping a three-day winning streak with traders looking to the two-day OPEC meeting that began today to discuss supply issues. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for August ended lower by $1.98 or 1.8 percent at $109.78 a barrel.

Closer to home, Hong Kong will release May numbers for retail sales later today; in April, sales were up 8.1 percent on year.