Hong Kong Bourse May Take Further Damage On Wednesday

(RTTNews) - The Hong Kong stock market has alternated between positive and negative finishes through the last four trading days since the end of the two-day slide in which it had dropped more than 600 points or 3.4 percent. The Hang Seng Index now sits just above the 17,330-point plateau and it may extend its losses on Wednesday.

The global forecast for the Asian markets suggests consolidation on rising concerns over the outlook for interest rates. The European and U.S. markets were down and the Asian markets figure to open in similar fashion.

The Hang Seng finished sharply lower on Tuesday with damage across the board, especially among the properties and technology companies.

For the day, the index plummeted 478.44 points or 2.69 percent to finish at 17,331.22 after trading between 17,212.87 and 17,546.39.

Among the actives, Alibaba Group and Xiaomi Corporation both shed 2.92 percent, while Alibaba Health Info slid 2.46 percent, ANTA Sports skidded 3.23 percent, China Life Insurance declined 4.43 percent, China Mengniu Dairy surrendered 4.95 percent, China Resources Land dove 2.08 percent, CITIC retreated 4.17 percent, CNOOC sank 3.05 percent, Country Garden plummeted 7.05 percent, CSPC Pharmaceutical plunged 6.10 percent, Galaxy Entertainment was down 1.48 percent, Hang Lung Properties slumped 3.54 percent, Henderson Land cratered 5.08 percent, Hong Kong & China Gas fell 2.56 percent, Industrial and Commercial Bank of China tumbled 4.77 percent, JD.com dropped 3.21 percent, Lenovo slipped 1.73 percent, Li Ning weakened 3.49 percent, Meituan stumbled 4.01 percent, New World Development tanked 5.25 percent, Techtronic Industries eased 0.86 percent and WuXi Biologics lost 2.63 percent.

The lead from Wall Street is broadly negative as the major averages opened lower on Tuesday and continued to sink as the day progressed, ending near session lows.

The Dow plunged 430.97 points or 1.29 percent to finish at 33,002.38, while the NASDAQ tumbled 248.31 points or 1.87 percent to close at 13,059.47 and the S&P 500 sank 58.94 points or 1.37 percent to end at 4,229.45.

The sell-off on Wall Street followed a report from the Labor Department unexpectedly showing a notable increase in U.S. job openings in August.

The data added to interest rate concerns amid worries strength in the labor market could convince the Federal Reserve to raise rates higher than had been anticipated and keep rates an elevated level for longer than expected.

The interest rate worries contributed to a continued surge by treasury yields, with the yield on the benchmark 10-year note jumping to its highest level in 16 years.

Oil futures settled higher on Tuesday on optimism that OPEC+ won't change its production policy at the committee's meeting later today. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for November added $0.41 or 0.5 percent at $89.23 a barrel.