Hang Seng Index Due For Profit Taking

(RTTNews) - The Hong Kong stock market has finished higher in four straight sessions, climbing more than 1,230 points or 5.1 percent along the way. The Hang Seng Index now sits just above the 24,470-point plateau although investors figure to lock in gains on Thursday.

The global forecast for the Asian markets suggests little movement as geopolitical concerns appear to have taken a breather. The European markets were down and the U.S. bourses were mixed and flat and the Asian markets figure to split the difference.

The Hang Seng finished sharply higher on Wednesday following gains from the financial shares, property stocks and technology companies.

For the day, the index jumped 297.60 points or 1.23 percent to finish at 24,474.67 after trading between 24,287.86 and 24,533.39.

Among the actives, Alibaba Group climbed 2.48 percent, while Alibaba Health Info jumped 2.90 percent, ANTA Sports improved 1.50 percent, China Life Insurance rallied 3.22 percent, China Mengniu Dairy gathered 0.24 percent, China Resources Land strengthened 2.61 percent, CITIC and CNOOC both gained 0.34 percent, CSPC Pharmaceutical eased 0.13 percent, Galaxy Entertainment spiked 3.38 percent, Haier Smart Home advanced 1.51 percent, Hang Lung Properties skyrocketed 8.79 percent, Henderson Land soared 4.55 percent, Hong Kong & China Gas rose 0.30 percent, Industrial and Commercial Bank of China collected 0.78 percent, JD.com expanded 2.53 percent, Lenovo was up 0.11 percent, Li Ning perked 0.12 percent, Meituan increased 1.38 percent, New World Development surged 8.49 percent, Nongfu Spring accelerated 3.33 percent, Techtronic Industries fell 0.17 percent, Xiaomi Corporation shed 0.44 percent, WuXi Biologics added 1.18 percent and Li Auto was unchanged.

The lead from Wall Street offers little guidance as the major averages opened mixed and spent the whole day hugging the line before ending little changed.

The Dow dropped 106.59 points or 0.25 percent to finish at 42,982.43, while the NASDAQ added 61.02 points or 0.31 percent to close at 19,973.55 and the S&P 500 eased 0.02 points or 0.00 percent to end at 6,092.16.

The initial strength on Wall Street reflected recent upward momentum, which saw stocks move sharply higher over the two previous sessions.

Buying interest waned shortly after the start of trading, however, as traders continue to monitor developments in the Middle East following yesterday's news of a ceasefire between Israel and Iran. The subsequent pullback likely was profit taking after the major averages reached their highest intraday levels in four months.

In U.S. economic news, a report released by the Commerce Department showed a substantial pullback by new home sales in the U.S. in May.

Crude oil prices moved higher on Wednesday as an EIA report indicated a draw in crude oil inventories and a surge in U.S. gasoline demand to a three-and-a-half-year high. West Texas Intermediate crude oil for August delivery closed up by $0.55 to settle at $64.92 per barrel.

Closer to home, Hong Kong will provide Maya data for imports, exports and trade balance later today. In April, imports were up 15.8 percent on month and exports jumped 14.7 percent for a trade deficit of HKD16.0 billion.