Hong Kong Stock Market May Stop The Bleeding On Friday

(RTTNews) - The Hong Kong stock market has finished lower in four straight sessions, retreating more than 520 points or 2.8 percent along the way. The Hang Seng Index now sits just above the 19,240-point plateau although it's due for support on Friday.

The global forecast for the Asian markets is murky as the U.S. markets were shuttered on Thursday - while the European markets were roughly flat with an upside bias, and the Asian bourses are expected to follow that lead.

The Hang Seng finished slightly lower on Thursday as losses from the financials and energy companies were offset by gains from the technology stocks and a mixed performance from the property sector.

For the day, the index fell 38.95 points or 0.20 percent to finish at 19,240.89 after trading between 19,227.73 and 19,405.74.

Among the actives, Alibaba Group and China Mengniu Dairy both shed 0.37 percent, while Alibaba Health Info advanced 0.93 percent, ANTA Sports surged 4.45 percent, China Life Insurance tumbled 1.01 percent, China Resources Land sank 0.68 percent, CITIC skidded 0.83 percent, CNOOC dropped 0.74 percent, CSPC Pharmaceutical added 0.90 percent, Galaxy Entertainment rose 0.60 percent, Haier Smart Home gained 0.74 percent, Hang Lung Properties improved 0.33 percent, Henderson Land fell 0.22 percent, Hong Kong & China Gas slumped 0.99 percent, Industrial and Commercial Bank of China declined 1.21 percent, JD.com retreated 1.55 percent, Lenovo spiked 3.04 percent, Li Auto plunged 4.42 percent, Li Ning plummeted 5.01 percent, Meituan stumbled 1.57 percent, New World Development tanked 2.51 percent, Nongfu Spring soared 3.05 percent, Techtronic Industries jumped 2.58 percent, Xiaomi Corporation accelerated 2.90 percent and WuXi Biologics rallied 2.67 percent.

There is no lead from Wall Street as the U.S. financial markets were closed on Thursday in honor of former U.S. President Jimmy Carter, who died in late December at age 100.

Investors are looking ahead to the release of the Labor Department's closely watched monthly jobs report later today, which will potentially provide additional clarity about the strength of the labor market.

Oil prices moved higher Thursday amid optimism about the outlook for global oil demand, and potential supply shortage due to the sanctions on Iranian and Russian crude exports. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for February settled higher by $0.60 or 0.82 percent at $73.92 a barrel.