Renewed Support Anticipated For Hong Kong Stock Market

(RTTNews) - The Hong Kong stock market headed south again on Wednesday, one day after snapping the three-day losing streak in which it had declined more than 570 points or 2.7 percent. The Hang Seng Index now sits just above the 21,580-point plateau although it's expected to bounce higher again on Thursday.

The global forecast for the Asian markets is positive, with oversold markets likely to rebound on possible easing inflation concerns. The European and U.S. markets were up and the Asian bourses are expected to follow that lead.

The Hang Seng finished sharply lower on Wednesday following losses from the financial shares, property stocks and oil companies, while the technology shares were mixed.

For the day, the index sank 266.41 points or 1.22 percent to finish at 21,586.66 after trading between 21,286.66 and 21,833.40.

Among the actives, AAC Technologies tanked 3.16 percent, while Alibaba Group jumped 1.56 percent, Alibaba Health Info dipped 0.70 percent, ANTA Sports tumbled 3.05 percent, China Life Insurance surrendered 2.33 percent, China Mengniu Dairy shed 1.29 percent, China Petroleum and Chemical (Sinopec) slipped 0.85 percent, China Resources Land retreated 1.91 percent, CITIC declined 2.07 percent, CNOOC plummeted 4.81 percent, Country Garden skidded 1.65 percent, CSPC Pharmaceutical gained 0.62 percent, Galaxy Entertainment dropped 1.40 percent, Henderson Land lost 1.20 percent, Hong Kong & China Gas stumbled 1.87 percent, Industrial and Commercial Bank of China weakened 1.85 percent, JD.com plunged 3.92 percent, Lenovo was down 0.42 percent, Li Ning slumped 1.66 percent, Meituan slid 0.91 percent, New World Development fell 1.08 percent, Techtronic Industries added 0.63 percent, Xiaomi Corporation sank 1.35 percent, WuXi Biologics climbed 0.79 percent and Hang Lung Properties was unchanged.

The lead from Wall Street is upbeat as the major averages hugged the unchanged line for most of Wednesday's trade before a late rally pushed them into the green.

The Dow climbed 69.86 points or 0.23 percent to finish at 31,037.68, while the NASDAQ added 39.61 points or 0.35 percent to close at 11,361.85 and the S&P 500 rose 13.69 points or 0.36 percent to end at 3,845.08.

The late rally on Wall Street followed the release of the latest batch of minutes from the Federal Reserve's latest monetary policy meeting, which showed the central bank remains committed to bringing down inflation.

The minutes also said participants continued to anticipate that ongoing increases in the target range for the federal funds would be appropriate to achieve the monetary policy committee's objectives; another 50 or 75-basis point move is expected in the July meeting.

Crude oil futures settled lower Wednesday amid concerns about outlook for energy demand due to a surge in Covid-19 cases in China and fears over a possible recession, while a strong greenback also weighed. West Texas Intermediate crude oil futures for August ended lower by $0.97 or 1 percent at $98.53 a barrel.