Hong Kong Stock Market May Run Out Of Steam On Wednesday

(RTTNews) - The Hong Kong stock market has moved higher in four straight sessions, soaring more than 1,400 points or 6.7 percent along the way. The Hang Seng Index now rests just beneath the 22,420-point plateau although investors may cash in on Wednesday.

The global forecast for the Asian markets is mixed to lower, with support from oil stocks likely offset by weakness from technology and retail companies. The European markets were up and the U.S. bourses were down and the Asian markets figure to follow the latter lead.

The Hang Seng finished modestly higher on Tuesday following gains from the financials, properties, oil companies and technology stocks.

For the day, the index spiked 189.45 points or 0.85 percent to finish at 22,418.97 after trading between 21,952.44 and 22,449.31.

Among the actives, AAC Technologies surged 4.07 percent, while ANTA Sports strengthened 2.14 percent, China Life Insurance collected 0.74 percent, China Mengniu Dairy added 1.16 percent, China Petroleum and Chemical (Sinopec) jumped 2.27 percent, China Resources Land increased 1.40 percent, CITIC advanced 1.49 percent, CNOOC spiked 3.56 percent, Country Garden and Li Ning both rallied 2.61 percent, CSPC Pharmaceutical improved 1.41 percent, Galaxy Entertainment skyrocketed 7.91 percent, Hang Lung Properties added 0.13 percent, Henderson Land was up 0.34 percent, Hong Kong & China Gas climbed 1.90 percent, Industrial and Commercial Bank of China collected 1.75 percent, JD.com tumbled 2.26 percent, Lenovo perked 0.77 percent, Meituan gathered 1.27 percent, New World Development rose 1.05 percent, Techtronic Industries gained 1.10 percent, Xiaomi Corporation accelerated 3.49 percent, WuXi Biologics slumped 2.09 percent and Alibaba Group and Alibaba Health Info were unchanged.

The lead from Wall Street is broadly negative as the major averages shook off early gains and quickly turned lower, finishing the day near session lows.

The Dow tumbled 491.27 points or 1.56 percent to finish at 30,946.99, while the NASDAQ plunged 343.01 points or 2.98 percent to close at 11,181.54 and the S&P 500 slumped 78.56 points or 2.01 percent to end at 3,821.55.

The initial strength on Wall Street partly reflected a positive reaction to news that China has cut quarantine times for international travelers in a big step toward easing Covid-19 controls.

But buying interest waned shortly after the start of trading, however, with lingering concerns about a potential recession continuing to weigh on the markets.

Negative sentiment may also have been generated in reaction to a report from the Conference Board showing U.S. consumer confidence deteriorated to its lowest level in over a year in June.

Crude oil prices rose sharply on Tuesday, extending recent gains after Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates indicated that they can barely increase oil production. West Texas Intermediate crude oil futures for August ended higher by $2.19 or 2 percent at $111.76 per barrel.