Hong Kong Bourse May Erase Thursday's Losses

(RTTNews) - The Hong Kong stock market headed south again on Thursday, one day after snapping the three-day slide in which it had dropped more than 400 points or 1.7 percent. The Hang Seng Index now sits just shy of the 24,070-point plateau although it's expected to find renewed support on Friday.

The global forecast for the Asian markets is positive thanks to better than expected U.S. employment data. The European and U.S. markets were up and the Asian bourses figure to follow that lead.

The Hang Seng finished modestly lower on Thursday following losses from the financials and mixed performances from the properties and technology stocks.

For the day, the index stumbled 151.47 points or 0.63 percent to finish at 24,069.94 after trading between 23,920.00 and 24,269.14.

Among the actives, Alibaba Group stumbled 2.93 percent, while Alibaba Health Info tanked 2.80 percent, China Life Insurance collected 0.22 percent, China Mengniu Dairy advanced 0.86 percent, China Resources Land jumped 1.68 percent, CNOOC spiked 2.01 percent, CSPC Pharmaceutical surged 3.78 percent, Galaxy Entertainment gained 0.41 percent, Haier Smart Home rallied 1.94 percent, Hang Lung Properties declined 1.55 percent, Henderson Land rose 0.35 percent, Hong Kong & China Gas improved 0.60 percent, Industrial and Commercial Bank of China slumped 1.14 percent, JD.com retreated 2.11 percent, Lenovo soared 3.07 percent, Li Auto sank 0.48 percent, Li Ning climbed 1.18 percent, Meituan tumbled 2.54 percent, New World Development plummeted 8.47 percent, Nongfu Spring dropped 0.50 percent, Techtronic Industries strengthened 1.20 percent, Xiaomi Corporation plunged 3.41 percent, WuXi Biologics added 0.58 percent and ANTA Sports and CITIC were unchanged.

The lead from Wall Street is upbeat as the major averages opened higher on Thursday and remained in the green throughout the shortened session ahead of the July 4 holiday.

The Dow rallied 344.11 points or 0.77 percent to finish at 44,828.53, while the NASDAQ jumped 207.97 points or 1.02 percent to close at 20,601.10 and the S&P 500 gained 51.93 points or 0.83 percent to end at 6,279.35.

The continued strength on Wall Street followed the release of the Labor Department report showing U.S. employment increased more than expected in June. The Labor Department said non-farm payroll employment shot up by 147,000 jobs in June after jumping by an upwardly revised 144,000 jobs in May.

Traders reacted positively to the data even though the stronger than expected job growth is likely to reduce the chances of a near-term interest rate cut by the Federal Reserve.

Crude oil settled lower on Thursday as excess U.S. inventories and an upcoming OPEC+ meeting triggered supply side concerns. West Texas Intermediate crude for August delivery closed down by $0.45, to settle at $67 per barrel.