Hong Kong Stock Market Overdue For Support On Friday

(RTTNews) - The Hong Kong stock market has finished lower in six straight sessions, tumbling more than 1,100 points or 5.5 percent along the way. The Hang Seng Index now rests just above the 18,850-point plateau although it's predicted to finally find support on Friday.

The global forecast for the Asian markets is mixed to higher, with support coming from technology, finance and oil stocks. The European markets were mixed and the U.S. bourses were up and the Asian markets figure to split the difference.

The Hang Seng finished sharply lower again on Thursday following losses from the financial shares, oil companies and technology stocks, while the property sector was mixed.

For the day, the index declined 189.68 points or 1.00 percent to finish at 18,854.62 after trading between 18,803.76 and 19,075.74.

Among the actives, Alibaba Group dipped 0.23 percent, while Alibaba Health Info gained 0.24 percent, ANTA Sports sank 0.78 percent, China Life Insurance eased 0.18 percent, China Mengniu Dairy tumbled 2.00 percent, China Petroleum and Chemical (Sinopec) fell 0.43 percent, China Resources Land surrendered 1.53 percent, CITIC skidded 0.98 percent, CNOOC plummeted 3.63 percent, Country Garden plunged 3.21 percent, CSPC Pharmaceutical lost 0.51 percent, Galaxy Entertainment rose 0.12 percent, Hang Lung Properties soared 1.84 percent, Henderson Land was down 0.20 percent, Hong Kong & China Gas retreated 1.22 percent, Industrial and Commercial Bank of China dropped 0.77 percent, JD.com added 0.60 percent, Lenovo declined 1.32 percent, Li Ning weakened 1.05 percent, Longfor slumped 1.13 percent, Meituan slid 0.35 percent, New World Development advanced 0.78 percent, Techtronic Industries surged 2.43 percent, Xiaomi Corporation tanked 2.22 percent and WuXi Biologics shed 0.55 percent.

The lead from Wall Street is positive as the major averages shook off early weakness on Thursday, using an afternoon rally to climb up into positive territory.

The Dow jumped 193.24 points or 0.61 percent to finish at 31,774.52, while the NASDAQ gained 70.23 points or 0.60 percent to end at 11,862.13 and the S&P 500 rose 26.31 points or 0.66 percent to close at 4,006.18.

The volatility on Wall Street came as traders digested comments from Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell, who reiterated the central bank's commitment to aggressively fighting inflation.

Powell's comments are seen as reinforcing expectations that the Fed will raise interest rates by another 75 basis points at its next meeting later this month.

In economic news, the Labor Department unexpectedly reported a modest decrease in initial jobless claims last week.

Crude oil futures settled higher Thursday following Russia's threat to halt oil and gas exports to some buyers. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for October ended higher by $1.60 or 2 percent at $83.54 a barrel.