Additional Support Called For Hong Kong Stock Market

(RTTNews) - The Hong Kong stock market has moved higher in back-to-back sessions, gathering more than 110 points or 0.4 percent along the way. The Hang Seng Index now rests just beneath the 24,970-point plateau and it's expected to open to the upside again on Wednesday.

The global forecast for the Asian markets is upbeat on an improved outlook for interest rates. The European markets were mixed and the U.S. bourses were up and the Asian markets figure to follow the latter lead.

The Hang Seng finished modestly higher on Tuesday following gains from the financials, weakness from the properties and a mixed picture from the technology companies.

For the day, the index gained 62.87 points or 0.25 percent to finish at 24,969.68 after trading between 24,801.13 and 25,016.29.

Among the actives, Alibaba Group stumbled 1.60 percent, while Alibaba Health Info skidded 0.81 percent, ANTA Sports improved 0.84 percent, China Life Insurance surged 3.10 percent, China Mengniu Dairy added 0.80 percent, China Resources Land soared 2.37 percent, CITIC gained 0.77 percent, CNOOC skidded 1.24 percent, CSPC Pharmaceutical plunged 3.09 percent, Galaxy Entertainment strengthened 1.57 percent, Haier Smart Home rallied 1.68 percent, Henderson Land tanked 1.19 percent, Hong Kong & China Gas fell 0.14 percent, JD.com and Industrial and Commercial Bank of China both collected 0.33 percent, Lenovo jumped 1.63 percent, Li Auto slumped 1.05 percent, Li Ning sank 0.24 percent, Meituan rose 0.17 percent, New World Development plummeted 6.64 percent, Nongfu Spring advanced 1.12 percent, Techtronic Industries increased 0.46 percent, Xiaomi Corporation spiked 1.77 percent, WuXi Biologics dropped 0.54 percent and Hang Lung Properties was unchanged.

The lead from Wall Street is firm as the major averages opened higher and continued to accelerate as the day progressed, ending near session highs.

The Dow surged 483.52 points or 1.10 percent to finish at 44,458.61, while the NASDAQ rallied 296.50 points or 1.39 percent to close at a record 21,681.90 and the S&P 500 climbed 72.31 points or 1.13 percent to end at 6,445.76, also a record.

The strength on Wall Street followed the release of the Labor Department's closely watched report on consumer price inflation for July, which was in line with expectations.

Despite the faster than expected annual core price growth, traders seem to believe the data increases the chances the Federal Reserve will lower interest rates next month.

Following the release of the report, CME Group's FedWatch Tool is indicating a 94.4 percent chance the Fed will cut rates by a quarter point in September.

Crude oil prices slumped on Tuesday ahead of an upcoming meeting between the U.S. and Russian presidents on Friday in Alaska. West Texas Intermediate crude for September delivery was down $0.88 or 1.38 percent at $63.08 per barrel.