Hong Kong Shares Due For Support On Tuesday

(RTTNews) - The Hong Kong stock market has moved lower in three straight sessions, dropping more than 300 points or 1.3 percent along the way. The Hang Seng Index now sits just above the 23,330-point plateau although it may halt its slide on Tuesday.

The global forecast for the Asian markets is cautiously optimistic on the outlook for trade. The European and U.S. markets were slightly higher and the Asian bourses figure to follow that lead.

The Hang Seng finished barely lower on Monday following weakness from the financial shares and mixed performances from the property and technology sectors.

For the day, the index dipped 12.33 points or 0.05 percent to finish at 23,332.72 after trading between 23,059.89 and 23,402.20.

Among the actives, Alibaba Group plunged 3.40 percent, while Alibaba Health Info surrendered 1.71 percent, ANTA Sports retreated 1.69 percent, China Life Insurance sank 0.76 percent, China Mengniu Dairy stumbled 1.85 percent, China Resources Land slumped 1.38 percent, CITIC added 0.72 percent, CNOOC advanced 1.04 percent, CSPC Pharmaceutical and WuXi Biologics both improved 0.85 percent, ENN Energy rallied 1.78 percent, Galaxy Entertainment declined 1.40 percent, Haier Smart Home climbed 1.08 percent, Hang Lung Properties skidded 1.13 percent, Henderson Land strengthened 1.25 percent, Hong Kong & China Gas gained 0.57 percent, Industrial and Commercial Bank of China shed 0.72 percent, JD.com dropped 1.06 percent, Lenovo jumped 1.94 percent, Li Auto tanked 3.18 percent, Li Ning tumbled 1.31 percent, Meituan soared 2.28 percent, New World Development plummeted 4.86 percent, Nongfu Spring rose 0.13 percent, Techtronic Industries lost 0.44 percent and Xiaomi Corporation surged 2.65 percent.

The lead from Wall Street is slightly positive as the major averages spent most of Monday in the red before a late pushed them up and barely over the unchanged line.

The Dow climbed 137.33 points or 0.32 percent to finish at 42,792.07, while the NASDAQ rose 4.36 points or 0.02 percent to close at 19,215.46 and the S&P 500 perked 5.22 points or 0.09 percent to end at 5,963.60.

The initial weakness on Wall Street came in reaction to news that Moody's has downgraded the U.S. debt rating by a notch to Aa1 from Aaa.

Selling pressure waned over the course of the session, however, as traders seem to remain generally optimistic about the outlook for the markets.

On the U.S. economic front, the Conference Board released a report showing its reading on leading U.S. economic indicators slumped by more than expected in the month of April.

Crude oil prices saw mild upside on Monday after Goldman Sachs raised its outlook for demand. West Texas Intermediate crude for June delivery rose $0.17 of 0.27 percent to $62.66 per barrel.

Closer to home, Hong Kong will see April unemployment data later today; in March, the jobless rate was 3.2 percent.