Hong Kong Stock Market Predicted To Open In The Red

(RTTNews) - The Hong Kong stock market has tracked lower in two of three trading days since the end of the three-day winning streak in which it had skyrocketed almost 1,450 points or 7.8 percent. The Hang Seng Index now sits just above the 19,440-point plateau and it's looking at a soft start again on Wednesday.

The global forecast for the Asian markets is soft on rising concerns over the outlook for interest rates. The European and U.S. markets were down and the Asian bourses are expected to open in similar fashion.

The Hang Seng finished modestly lower on Tuesday as losses from the technology stocks were offset by gains among the property sector.

For the day, the index slumped 77.11 points or 0.40 percent to finish at 19,441.18 after trading between 19,202.87 and 19,569.67.

Among the actives, Alibaba Group tanked 3.02 percent, while Alibaba Health Info skidded 1.84 percent, ANTA Sports stumbled 1.98 percent, China Life Insurance declined 2.38 percent, China Petroleum and Chemical (Sinopec) rallied 1.91 percent, China Resources Land climbed 1.35 percent, CITIC jumped 1.69 percent, CNOOC lost 0.20 percent, Country Garden surged 3.62 percent, CSPC Pharmaceutical plummeted 8.65 percent, Galaxy Entertainment improved 0.49 percent, Hang Lung Properties strengthened 1.66 percent, Henderson Land advanced 0.82 percent, Hong Kong & China Gas soared 3.26 percent, Industrial and Commercial Bank of China collected 0.26 percent, JD.com tumbled 2.40 percent, Lenovo sank 0.47 percent, Li Ning retreated 2.05 percent, Longfor added 0.38 percent, Meituan dropped 0.29 percent, New World Development spiked 2.48 percent, Xiaomi Corporation slumped 1.91 percent, WuXi Biologics plunged 3.54 percent and China Mengniu Dairy and Techtronic Industries were unchanged.

The lead from Wall Street remains negative as the major averages opened lower and continued deeper into the red as the day progressed, ending near session lows.

The Dow retreated 350.76 points or 1.03 percent to finish at 33,596.76, while the NASDAQ tumbled 225.05 points or 2.00 percent to close at 11,014.89 and the S&P 500 dropped 57.58 points or 1.44 percent to end at 3,941.26.

The extended sell-off on Wall Street reflected lingering concerns about the outlook for interest rates ahead of next week's Federal Reserve meeting.

While the Fed is widely expected to slow the pace of interest rate hikes next week, recent upbeat economic data has raised concerns about how much further the central bank will raise rates at future meetings.

In economic news, the Commerce Department released a report showing the U.S. trade deficit widened in the month of October.

Crude oil prices dropped to an 11-month low on Tuesday amid concerns about the outlook for energy demand as uncertainty and consequences of a continued Fed tightening weighed on the commodity. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for January ended lower by $2.68 or 3.5 percent at $74.25 a barrel.