Hong Kong Shares Poised To Extend Monday's Gains

(RTTNews) - The Hong Kong stock market on Monday ended the two-day slide in which it had tumbled more than 620 points or 3.5 percent. The Hang Seng Index now rests just above the 17,775-point plateau and it may add to its winnings on Tuesday.

The global forecast for the Asian markets is upbeat on continued optimism over the outlook for interest rates. The European markets were mixed and little changed and the U.S. bourses were solidly higher and the Asian markets are tipped to follow the latter lead.

The Hang Seng finished sharply higher on Monday with gains across the board, particularly among the financials, properties and technology stocks. For the day, the index surged 323.88 points or 1.86 percent to finish at 17,778.07 after trading between 17,532.73 and 17,788.90.

Among the actives, Alibaba Group added 1.64 percent, while Alibaba Health Info improved 2.40 percent, ANTA Sports rallied 1.65 percent, China Life Insurance strengthened 2.75 percent, China Mengniu Dairy soared 4.29 percent, China Resources Land spiked 3.28 percent, CITIC skyrocketed 6.54 percent, CNOOC jumped 2..04 percent, Country Garden accelerated 3.08 percent, CSPC Pharmaceutical climbed 2.48 percent, ENN Energy surged 4.96 percent, Galaxy Entertainment improved 1.86 percent, Hang Lung Properties and Hong Kong & China Gas both perked 1.45 percent, Henderson Land was up 0.92 percent, Industrial and Commercial Bank of China collected 2.13 percent, JD.com rallied 3.04 percent, Lenovo increased 2.18 percent, Li Ning jumped 3.03 percent, Meituan rose 1.58 percent, New World Development gathered 1.57 percent, Techtronic Industries lost 0.18 percent, Xiaomi Corporation added 1.51 percent and WuXi Biologics gained 1.59 percent.

The lead from Wall Street is solid as the major averages opened modestly higher on Monday but accelerated throughout the day, ending near session highs.

The Dow jumped 203.76 points or 0.58 percent to finish at 35,151.04, while the NASDAQ rallied 159.05 points or 1.13 percent to close at 14,284.53 and the S&P 500 gained 33.36 points or 0.74 percent to end at 4,547.38.

The strength on Wall Street reflected recent upward momentum, which comes amid ongoing optimism about the outlook for interest rates. Recent data showing signs of easing inflation has reinforced investor expectations that the Federal Reserve will leave rates unchanged at upcoming meetings.

Stocks saw further upside in afternoon trading as treasury yields pulled back following the release of the results of the Treasury Department's auction of $16 billion worth of 20-year bonds.

In economic news, the Conference Board released a report showing its reading on leading U.S. economic indicators fell by more than expected in October.

Crude oil prices rose sharply on Monday amid expectations that OPEC will further extend its voluntary output cuts next week, while the dollar's weakness also contributed to the jump in oil prices. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for January ended higher by $1.79 or 2.4 percent at $77.83 a barrel.

Closer to home, Hong Kong will see October data for consumer prices later today; in September, overall inflation was up 0.4 percent on month and 2.0 percent on year.