Higher Open Called For Hong Kong Stock Market

(RTTNews) - The Hong Kong stock market has moved higher in three straight sessions, climbing almost 560 points or 3 percent along the way. The Hang Seng Index now sits just above the 19,630-point plateau and it may see additional support on Tuesday. The global forecast for the Asian markets is cautiously optimistic, with strength likely from the technology shares. The European markets were up and the U.S. bourses were mixed and the Asian markets are tipped to open to the upside.

The Hang Seng finished modestly higher on Monday following gains from the financial shares and mixed performances from the property and technology sectors.

For the day, the index advanced 82.61 points or 0.42 percent to finish at 19,636.22 after trading between 19,574.56 and 19,706.12. Among the actives, Alibaba Group sank 0.41 percent, while Alibaba Health Info jumped 2.14 percent, ANTA Sports accelerated 2.80 percent, China Life Insurance plunged 2.62 percent, China Mengniu Dairy climbed 1.90 percent, China Resources Land and Xiaomi Corporation both lost 0.30 percent, CITIC and Hong Kong & China Gas both advanced 1.87 percent, CNOOC improved 1.55 percent, Country Garden tumbled 1.91 percent, CSPC Pharmaceutical rallied 2.27 percent, Galaxy Entertainment soared 3.38 percent, Haier Smart Home plummeted 4.17 percent, Hang Lung Properties increased 1.34 percent, Henderson Land spiked 3.02 percent, Industrial and Commercial Bank of China collected 0.42 percent, JD.com strengthened 2.01 percent, Li Ning skyrocketed 7.27 percent, Meituan slumped 0.80 percent, New World Development surged 3.58 percent, Techtronic Industries added 0.84 percent, WuXi Biologics fell 0.14 percent and Lenovo and CK Infrastructure were unchanged.

The lead from Wall Street is inconsistent as the major averages opened mixed on Monday and closed in the same fashion.

The Dow stumbled 196.82 points or 0.49 percent to finish at 39,806.77, while the NASDAQ jumped 108.91 points or 0.65 percent to close at a record high 16,794.88 and the S&P 500 rose 4.86 points or 0.09 percent to end at 5,308.13.

The advance by the NASDAQ reflected strength in the tech sector, with semiconductor stocks leading the way as the Philadelphia Semiconductor Index jumped by 2.2 percent to a two-month closing high.

Gold stocks also saw notable strength on the day, as the price of the precious metal reached a new record high, while banking stocks and telecom stocks moved to the downside.

The Dow was hit by profit taking after the index closed above 40,000 points for the first time on Friday.

Oil prices settled lower on Monday, weighed down by concerns the Federal Reserve will likely keep interest rates higher for a longer time. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures dropped to around $79.80, down $0.26 from the previous close.