No Help Yet For Oversold Hang Seng

(RTTNews) - The Hong Kong stock market has moved lower in seven straight sessions, tumbling more than 835 points or 4.7 percent along the way. The Hang Seng Index now sits just beneath the 18,010-point plateau and it's predicted to open lower again on Thursday.

The global forecast for the Asian markets is mixed and flat following the release of U.S. inflation data that offered little clarity for interest rates. The European markets were slightly lower and the U.S. bourses were mixed and little changed and the Asian markets figure to split the difference.

The Hang Seng finished slightly lower on Wednesday as losses from the financials and technology stocks were offset by bargain hunting among the properties.

For the day, the index eased 16.67 points or 0.09 percent to finish at 18,009.22 after trading between 17,954.97 and 18,200.52.

Among the actives, Alibaba Group sank 0.87 percent, while Alibaba Health Info shed 0.86 percent, ANTA Sports perked 0.11 percent, China Life Insurance fell 0.66 percent, China Mengniu Dairy advanced 0.36 percent, China Resources Land climbed 0.90 percent, CITIC stumbled 1.32 percent, CNOOC rose 0.15 percent, Country Garden dropped 0.91 percent, CSPC Pharmaceutical dipped 0.35 percent, ENN Energy improved 1.41 percent, Galaxy Entertainment gained 0.20 percent, Hang Lung Properties rallied 1.59 percent, Henderson Land jumped 1.72 percent, Hong Kong & China Gas skidded 1.07 percent, Industrial and Commercial Bank of China slid 0.53 percent, JD.com lost 0.80 percent, Lenovo slumped 1.34 percent, Li Ning tumbled 2.25 percent, Meituan surrendered 1.36 percent, New World Development strengthened 1.52 percent, Techtronic Industries declined 1.59 percent, Xiaomi Corporation added 0.34 percent, WuXi Biologics retreated 1.41 percent and CK Infrastructure and Haier Smart Home were unchanged.

The lead from Wall Street is murky as the major averages opened higher on Wednesday, quickly plummeted and then recovered to finish mixed and little changed.

The Dow sank 70.46 points or 0.20 percent to finish at 34,575.53, while the NASDAQ added 39.97 points or 0.29 percent to close at 13,813.58 and the S&P 500 rose 5.54 points or 0.12 percent to end at 4,467.44.

The choppy trading on Wall Street followed the release of the Labor Department's report on consumer price inflation in August. The report said the consumer price index climbed by 0.6 percent in August after inching up by 0.2 percent in July.

While the data reinforced expectations the Federal Reserve will leave interest rates unchanged next week, many economists feel the bigger than expected monthly increase in core prices leaves the door open for another rate hike before the end of the year.

Following the report, CME Group's FedWatch Tool indicates a 97.0 percent chance the Federal Reserve will leave interest rates unchanged next week. The outlook for November remains more mixed, however, with the FedWatch Tool indicating a 58.0 percent chance rates will remain unchanged and a 40.8 percent chance of another quarter-point rate hike.

Crude oil futures settled lower on Wednesday on worries about demand after data showed an unexpected jump in U.S. crude inventories. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for October fell $0.32 or 0.4 percent at $88.52 a barrel.