Higher Open Projected For Hong Kong Stock Market

(RTTNews) - The Hong Kong stock market on Tuesday wrote a finish to the five-day winning streak in which it had surged almost 1,100 points or 6 percent. The Hang Seng Index now sits just above the 19,000-point plateau and it's tipped to open in the green on Wednesday.

The global forecast for the Asian markets is positive on an improved outlook for interest rates. The European and U.S. markets were up and the Asian bourses are expected to open in similar fashion.

The Hang Seng was sharply lower on Tuesday with profit taking across the board, especially among the financials, properties and technology shares.

For the day, the index plunged 398.08 points or 2.05 percent to finish at 19,015.72 after trading between 18,979.92 and 19,324.34.

Among the actives, Alibaba Group declined 3.50 percent, while Alibaba Health Info tumbled 3.66 percent, China Life Insurance tanked 4.16 percent, China Mengniu Dairy surrendered 3.81 percent, China Resources Land shed 1.88 percent, CITIC slumped 2.74 percent, CNOOC slipped 1.14 percent, Country Garden plummeted 9.61 percent, CSPC Pharmaceutical slid 1.25 percent, Galaxy Entertainment dipped 1.10 percent, Hang Lung Properties retreated 2.91 percent, Henderson Land lost 1.71 percent, Hong Kong & China Gas fell 1.53 percent, Industrial and Commercial Bank of China sank 2.19 percent, JD.com plunged 4.65 percent, Lenovo advanced 0.71 percent, Li Ning stumbled 2.84 percent, Meituan skidded 2.57 percent, New World Development weakened 2.66 percent, Techtronic Industries surged 2.30 percent, Xiaomi Corporation dropped 2.44 percent, WuXi Biologics eased 0.12 percent and ANTA Sports was unchanged.

The lead from Wall Street is solid as the major averages opened mixed on Tuesday but took off shortly thereafter, ending near session highs.

The Dow spiked 366.58 points or 1.06 percent to finish at 34,951.93, while the NASDAQ advanced 108.69 points or 0.76 percent to end at 14,353.64 and the S&P 500 gained 32.19 points or 0.71 percent to close at 4,554.98.

The rally on Wall Street followed the release of earnings news from financial giants like Bank of America (BAC), Morgan Stanley (MS), Bank of New York Mellon (BK) and PNC Financial Services (PNC), which all beat the street.

Traders also reacted positively to the release of separate reports showing a smaller than expected increase in retail sales and an unexpected decrease in industrial production.

While the reports led to some concerns about the strength of the economy, the data has added to recent optimism about the Federal Reserve nearing the end of its interest rate hiking cycle.

Crude oil prices moved higher on Tuesday for the first time in three days as the dollar slipped after soft data. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for August ended higher by $1.60 or 2.2 percent at $75.75 a barrel.