Hong Kong Shares Due For Profit Taking On Friday

(RTTNews) - The Hong Kong stock market has moved higher in three straight trading days, collecting almost 600 points or 3.3 percent along the way. The Hang Seng Index now sits just above the 18,210-point plateau although it's likely to run out of steam on Friday.

The global forecast for the Asian markets is negative on apprehension over the outlook for interest rates. The European markets were mixed and the U.S. bourses were down and the Asian markets figure to follow the latter lead.

The Hang Seng finished sharply higher on Thursday with gains in all sectors, especially among the property and technology shares.

For the day, the index surged 366.25 points or 2.05 percent to finish at 18,212.17 after trading between 17,945.01 and 18,272.95.

Among the actives, Alibaba Group climbed 2.58 percent, while Alibaba Health Info advanced 2.55 percent, ANTA Sports jumped 2.93 percent, China Life Insurance and Industrial and Commercial Bank of China both collected 0.88 percent, China Mengniu Dairy rose 1.83 percent, China Resources Land added 2.25 percent, CITIC gained 1.99 percent, CNOOC perked 1.57 percent, Country Garden skyrocketed 10.44 percent, CSPC Pharmaceutical jumped 3.02 percent, Galaxy Entertainment increased 2.31 percent, Hang Lung Properties strengthened 2.71 percent, Henderson Land was up 1.42 percent, JD.com gathered 1.68 percent, Lenovo spiked 5.69 percent, Li Ning improved 2.47 percent, Meituan soared 7.44 percent, New World Development accelerated 3.34 percent, Techtronic Industries tumbled 2.40 percent, Xiaomi Corporation rallied 3.41 percent, WuXi Biologics surged 8.52 percent and Hong Kong & China Gas was unchanged.

The lead from Wall Street is soft as the major averages opened higher on Thursday but quickly turned lower and finished deep under water.

The Dow plunged 373.56 points or 1.08 percent to finish at 34,099.42, while the NASDAQ tumbled 257.06 points or 1.87 percent to close at 13,463.97 and the S&P 500 sank 59.70 points or 1.35 percent to end at 4,376.31.

The initial strength on Wall Street reflected a positive reaction to Q2 results from chipmaker Nvidia (NVDA), which reported strong earnings and guidance after markets close on Wednesday.

Buying interest waned shortly after the start of trading, however, with concerns about the outlook for interest rates continuing to weigh on the markets ahead of the economic symposium later today in Jackson Hole, Wyoming.

In economic news, the Commerce Department said new orders for U.S. manufactured durable goods tumbled more than expected in July. Also, the Labor Department noted a modest decrease in first-time claims for U.S. unemployment benefits last week.

Crude oil futures settled higher Thursday on expectations that Saudi Arabia will extend its production cut into the next month. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for October ended higher by $0.16 or 0.2 percent at $79.05 a barrel.