Hong Kong Bourse May Spin Its Wheels On Wednesday

(RTTNews) - The Hong Kong stock market has tracked higher in two straight sessions, advancing more than 100 points or 0.6 percent along the way. The Hang Seng Index now sits just beneath the 16,830-point plateau and it may be stuck in neutral on Wednesday.

The global forecast for the Asian markets suggests little movement ahead of key inflation data later today. The European markets were down and the U.S. bourses were mixed and little changed the Asian markets figure to follow the latter lead.

The Hang Seng finished modestly higher on Tuesday following gains from the properties and utilities, while the technology shares were mixed.

For the day, the index added 95.22 points or 0.57 percent to finish at 16,828.57 after trading between 16,805.99 and 17,006.85.

Among the actives, Alibaba Group rose 0.14 percent, while Alibaba Health Info accelerated 2.85 percent, ANTA Sports fell 0.34 percent, China Life Insurance collected 0.22 percent, China Mengniu Dairy jumped 2.48 percent, China Resources Land improved 0.63 percent, CITIC increased 0.42 percent, CNOOC tumbled 1.36 percent, Country Garden dropped 0.82 percent, CSPC Pharmaceutical advanced 1.14 percent, Galaxy Entertainment added 0.62 percent, Hang Lung Properties and Hong Kong & China Gas both climbed 1.35 percent, Henderson Land spiked 3.08 percent, JD.com lost 0.68 percent, Lenovo slumped 0.90 percent, Li Ning sank 0.74 percent, Meituan gained 0.30 percent, New World Development surged 3.14 percent, Techtronic Industries rallied 2.83 percent, Xiaomi Corporation soared 3.10 percent, WuXi Biologics strengthened 2.27 percent and Industrial and Commercial Bank of China was unchanged.

The lead from Wall Street continues to be murky as the major averages opened higher on Tuesday but quickly headed south to spend most of the day in the red before a late rally saw them finish mixed and little changed.

The Dow shed 9.13 points or 0.02 percent to finish at 38,883.67, while the NASDAQ gained 52.68 points or 0.32 percent to close at 16,306.64 and the S&P 500 rose 7.52 points or 0.14 percent to end at 5,209.91.

The volatility on Wall Street came as traders continued to look ahead to the release of the Labor Department's report on consumer price inflation later today.

The inflation data could have a significant impact on the outlook for interest rates, as Federal Reserve officials have repeatedly said they need greater confidence that inflation is slowing before cutting rates.

Wednesday will also see the release of the minutes of the Fed's latest monetary policy meeting, which could also shed additional light on officials' thinking on rates.

Oil prices fell on Tuesday, slumping for a second straight session as traders assessed the prospect of meaningful progress in Gaza ceasefire talks. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for May sank $1.20 or 1.4 percent at $85.23 a barrel.