Higher Open Predicted For Hong Kong Stock Market

(RTTNews) - The Hong Kong stock market has climbed higher in consecutive trading days, spiking more than 620 points or 3.2 percent along the way. The Hang Seng Index now sits just beneath the 20,200-point plateau and it may add to its winnings on Thursday.

The global forecast for the Asian markets is positive, with strength expected from the technology and banking stocks. The European and U.S. markets were firmly higher and the Asian bourses are expected to follow suit.

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

For the day, the index surged 407.75 points or 2.06 percent to finish at 20,192.40 after trading between 20,107.73 and 20,437.69.

Among the actives, Alibaba Group skyrocketed 12.23 percent, while Alibaba Health Info soared 5.17 percent, ANTA Sports improved 1.86 percent, China Life Insurance gathered 0.30 percent, China Mengniu Dairy shed 0.44 percent, China Resources Land climbed 1.13 percent, CITIC and CLP Holdings both added 0.44 percent, CNOOC jumped 2.44 percent, Country Garden surged 6.67 percent, CSPC Pharmaceutical dropped 0.79 percent, Galaxy Entertainment lost 0.39 percent, Hang Lung Properties sank 0.54 percent, Henderson Land gained 0.37 percent, Hong Kong & China Gas advanced 0.87 percent, Industrial and Commercial Bank of China collected 1.42 percent, JD.com strengthened 1.92 percent, Lenovo perked 0.23 percent, Li Ning accelerated 2.86 percent, Meituan spiked 4.01 percent, New World Development dipped 0.24 percent, Techtronic Industries rallied 2.49 percent, Xiaomi Corporation fell 0.33 percent and WuXi Biologics rose 0.31 percent.

The lead from Wall Street is solid as the major averages opened sharply higher and stayed that way throughout the session.

The Dow jumped 323.35 points or 1.00 percent to finish at 32,717.60, while the NASDAQ surged 210.16 points or 1.79 percent to end at 11,926.24 and the S&P 500 spiked 56.54 points or 1.42 percent to end at 4,027.81.

The rally on Wall Street reflected a rebound by technology stocks, with the tech-heavy NASDAQ recovering from the pullback seen early in the week to hit its best closing level in over a month.

Semiconductor stocks led the recovery in the tech sector, driving the Philadelphia Semiconductor Index up 3.3 percent. Considerable strength was also visible among computer hardware stocks, as reflected by the 2.9 percent surge by the NYSE Arca Computer Hardware Index.

The markets also benefited from a continued easing of concerns about contagion from the recent turmoil in the banking sector.

Oil futures failed to hold early gains and ended modestly lower on Wednesday, despite data showing a drop in crude stockpiles last week. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for May faded $0.23 or 0.3 percent at $72.97 a barrel, coming off a high of $74.37 a barrel.