Higher Open Predicted For Hong Kong Stock Market

(RTTNews) - The Hong Kong stock market on Monday wrote a finish to the two-day winning streak in which it had surged more than 1,080 points or 5.5 percent. The Hang Seng Index now sits just above the 19,460-point plateau although it's expected to bounce higher again on Tuesday.

The global forecast for the Asian markets is upbeat on bargain hunting and an improved outlook for interest rates. The European markets were down and the U.S. bourses were up and the Asian markets are tipped to follow the latter lead.

The Hang Seng finished sharply lower on Monday following losses from the financial shares, property stocks and technology companies.

For the day, the index plummeted 437.24 points or 2.20 percent to finish at 19,463.63 after trading between 19,366.22 and 19,718.08.

Among the actives, Alibaba Group tanked 3.81 percent, while Alibaba Health Info stumbled 2.55 percent, ANTA Sports plunged 3.98 percent, China Life Insurance dropped 1.94 percent, China Mengniu Dairy fell 0.57 percent, China Petroleum and Chemical (Sinopec) added 0.54 percent, China Resources Land slumped 2.54 percent, CITIC lost 0.76 percent, CNOOC rose 0.31 percent, Country Garden plummeted 16.99 percent, CSPC Pharmaceutical surged 3.00 percent, Galaxy Entertainment tumbled 2.93 percent, Hang Lung Properties weakened 2.53 percent, Henderson Land sank 1.70 percent, Hong Kong & China Gas was down 0.28 percent, Industrial and Commercial Bank of China shed 0.77 percent, JD.com declined 2.87 percent, Li Ning tanked 5.55 percent, Longfor plummeted 11.02 percent, Meituan plunged 6.95 percent, New World Development skidded 2.47 percent, Techtronic Industries gained 0.48 percent, Xiaomi Corporation retreated 2.61 percent, WuXi Biologics tumbled 3.80 percent and Lenovo was unchanged.

The lead from Wall Street is broadly positive as the major averages opened flat on Monday but accelerated as the day progressed, ending near session highs.

The Dow surged 528 points or 1.58 percent to finish at 34,005.04, while the NASDAQ rallied 139.12 points or 1.26 percent to end at 11,143.74 and the S&P 500 jumped 56.18 points or 1.43 percent to close at 3,990.56.

The rally on Wall Street came as traders picked up stocks at reduced levels following last week's notable decline.

Positive sentiment was also generated in reaction to a survey from the New York Federal Reserve showing inflation expectations decreased at the short, medium, and longer terms in November.

Traders also looked ahead to the Federal Reserve's highly anticipated monetary policy decision on Wednesday. While the Fed is widely expected to slow the pace of interest rate hikes to 50 basis points, traders have recently expressed concerns about how much further the Fed will need to raise rates in order to contain inflation.

Crude oil prices rose sharply Monday on supply concerns following the continued closure of a pipeline carrying Canadian heavy crude to the U.S. Gulf Coast of Mexico. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for January ended higher by $2.15 or 3 percent at $73.17 a barrel.

Closer to home, Hong Kong will provide Q3 figures for industrial production later today; in the previous three months, industrial production rose 2.7 percent on year.