Hong Kong Bourse Poised To Halt Losing Streak

(RTTNews) - The Hong Kong stock market has finished lower in two straight sessions, retreating more than 610 points or 3.4 percent along the way. The Hang Seng Index now sits just beneath the 17,200-point plateau although it may find traction on Thursday.

The global forecast for the Asian markets is cautiously optimistic, with optimism from easing treasury yields offset by concerns for the health of the world's economies. The European markets were mixed and the U.S. bourses were up and the Asian markets figure to split the difference.

The Hang Seng finished modestly lower on Wednesday as losses from the technology and oil companies were mitigated by bargain hunting in the property sector.

For the day, the index sank 135.38 points or 0.78 percent to finish at 17,195.84 after trading between 17,094.00 and 17,266.82.

Among the actives, Alibaba Group stumbled 1.62 percent, while Alibaba Health Info dropped 1.05 percent, ANTA Sports tumbled 1.88 percent, China Life Insurance gained 0.51 percent, China Mengniu Dairy climbed 1.40 percent, China Resources Land weakened 1.47 percent, CITIC plunged 2.61 percent, CNOOC skidded 1.35 percent, Country Garden slumped 1.60 percent, CSPC Pharmaceutical declined 1.86 percent, ENN Energy advanced 1.20 percent, Galaxy Entertainment tanked 2.58 percent, Hang Lung Properties and Hong Kong & China Gas both dipped 0.19 percent, Henderson Land jumped 1.63 percent, Industrial and Commercial Bank of China collected 0.56 percent, JD.com shed 0.99 percent, Lenovo added 0.63 percent, Li Ning surrendered 2.20 percent, Meituan plummeted 2.82 percent, New World Development rallied 2.77 percent, Techtronic Industries and Xiaomi Corporation both sank 1.00 percent and WuXi Biologics retreated 1.80 percent.

The lead from Wall Street is positive as the major averages opened slightly higher on Wednesday, saw peaks and valleys throughout the session before ending firmly in the green.

The Dow climbed 127.17 points or 0.39 percent to finish at 33,129.55, while the NASDAQ rallied 176.54 points or 1.35 percent to end at 13,236.01 and the S&P 500 gained 34.30 points or 0.81 percent to close at 4,263.75.

Trading on Wall Street was driven in reaction to bond market activity, with treasury yields fluctuating over the course of the session. The higher close by stocks came as yields finished firmly in negative territory, giving back ground after reaching their highest levels in 16 years.

Treasury yields closed lower following the release of a report from payroll processor ADP showing private sector job growth slowed by much more than expected in September.

Traders were still cautious ahead of the Labor Department's more closely watched report on Friday, which may affect the outlook for interest rates.

Crude oil prices plummeted on Wednesday, weighed down by concerns about the outlook for demand amid worries about an economic slowdown. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for November ended lower by $5.01 or 5.6 percent at $84.22 a barrel.