Hong Kong Bourse Due For Profit Taking

(RTTNews) - The Hong Kong stock market has tracked higher in three straight sessions, advancing more than 400 points or 2.4 percent along the way. The Hang Seng Index now sits just beneath the 17,140-point plateau although investors figure to cash in on Thursday.

The global forecast for the Asian markets is bleak on rising concerns about the outlook for interest rates. The European markets were mixed and the U.S. bourses were down and the Asian markets figure to follow the latter lead.

The Hang Seng finished sharply higher on Wednesday as the financials, oil companies, property stocks and technology shares were all mostly higher.

For the day, the index jumped 311.10 points or 1.85 percent to finish at 17,139.17 after trading between 16,918.36 and 17,190.50.

Among the actives, Alibaba Group skyrocketed 4.89 percent, while ANTA Sports improved 0.74 percent, China Life Insurance collected 0.75 percent, China Mengniu Dairy dropped 0.81 percent, China Resources Land sank 0.63 percent, CITIC spiked 1.66 percent, CNOOC accelerated 1.59 percent, Country Garden added 0.21 percent, Galaxy Entertainment rose 0.12 percent, Hang Lung Properties strengthened 1.46 percent, Henderson Land jumped 1.50 percent, Hong Kong & China Gas advanced 0.83 percent, Industrial and Commercial Bank of China rallied 1.49 percent, JD.com surged 4.72 percent, Meituan soared 4.11 percent, New World Development slumped 0.56 percent, Techtronic Industries climbed 1.10 percent, Xiaomi Corporation gained 0.13 percent, WuXi Biologics lost 0.42 percent and CSPC Pharmaceutical, Lenovo, Li Ning and Alibaba Health Info were unchanged.

The lead from Wall Street is broadly negative as the major averages opened lower on Wednesday and stayed in the red throughout the trading day.

The Dow plunged 422.16 points or 1.09 percent to finish at 38,461.51, while the NASDAQ slumped 136.28 points or 0.84 percent to close at 16,170.36 and the S&P 500 sank 49.27 points or 0.95 percent to end at 5,160.64.

The early sell-off on Wall Street followed the release of a Labor Department report showing U.S. consumer prices advanced by slightly more than expected in March, also causing a surge in treasury yields.

The data added to recent worries the Federal Reserve will hold off on lowering interest rates amid ongoing inflation concerns. Fed officials have repeatedly said they need greater confidence inflation is slowing before they consider cutting rates.

The minutes of the central bank's latest monetary policy meeting, released later in the day, revealed Fed officials were already not convinced inflation is moving sustainably down to 2 percent after January and February readings on core and headline inflation had been firmer than expected.

Crude oil prices climbed higher on Wednesday on rising geopolitical tensions amid reports of a likely strike by Iran against Israel. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for May ended higher by $0.98 at $86.21 a barrel.