Hong Kong Shares Expected To Open In The Green

(RTTNews) - The Hong Kong stock market on Friday ended the four-day winning streak in which it had rallied more than 725 points or 2.8 percent. The Hang Seng now sits just above the 25,850-point plateau, although it's likely to reverse its losses on Monday.

The global forecast for the Asian markets is upbeat on an improved outlook for interest rates. The European and U.S. markets were up and the Asian bourses are tipped to open in similar fashion.

The Hang Seng finished modestly lower on Friday following losses from the financial shares, property stocks and technology companies.

For the day, the index lost 87.04 points or 0.34 percent to finish at 25,858.89 after trading between 25,807.55 and 26,011.06.

Among the actives, Alibaba Group advanced 0.60 percent, while Alibaba Health Info plummeted 3.30 percent, ANTA Sports skidded 0.93 percent, China Life Insurance stumbled 1.68 percent, China Mengniu Dairy rose 0.20 percent, China Resources Land tanked 2.33 percent, CITIC weakened 0.98 percent, CNOOC fell 0.75 percent, CSPC Pharmaceutical retreated 1.62 percent, Galaxy Entertainment jumped 1.36 percent, Haier Smart Home slumped 0.97 percent, Hang Lung Properties added 0.45 percent, Henderson Land contracted 1.34 percent, Industrial and Commercial Bank of China lost 0.77 percent, JD.com gained 0.26 percent, Lenovo dropped 0.92 percent, Li Auto shed 0.83 percent, Li Ning declined 1.42 percent, Meituan tumbled 1.44 percent, New World Development sank 0.87 percent, Nongfu Spring plunged 3.23 percent, Techtronic Industries rallied 1.22 percent, Xiaomi Corporation eased 0.19 percent, WuXi Biologics slipped 0.45 percent and Hong Kong & China Gas was unchanged.

The lead from Wall Street is positive as the major averages opened higher on Friday and remained in the green throughout the day for a fifth straight session.

The Dow jumped 289.30 points or 0.61 percent to finish at 47,716.42, while the NASDAQ rallied 151.00 points or 0.65 percent to end at 23,365.69 and the S&P 500 climbed 36.48 points or 0.54 percent to close at 6,849.09.

For the holiday-shortened week, the NASDAQ spiked 4.9 percent, the S&P 500 jumped 3.7 percent and the Dow climbed 3.2 percent.

Renewed optimism about the outlook for interest rates has contributed to the recent rebound following dovish comments from leading Federal Reserve officials. CME Group's FedWatch Tool is currently indicating an 86.9 percent chance the central bank will cut rates by another quarter point at its December meeting.

Trading activity remained somewhat subdued, however, as some traders remained away from their desks following the Thanksgiving holiday.

Crude oil prices edged higher on Friday a proposed peace deal to end the Russia-Ukraine war remains in limbo. West Texas Intermediate crude for January delivery was up $0.18 or 0.31 percent at $58.83 per barrel.

Closer to home, Hong Kong will provide October numbers for retail sales later today; in September, sales were up 5.9 percent on year.