Hong Kong Stock Market Tipped To Open In The Red

(RTTNews) - The Hong Kong stock market on Wednesday ended the two-day slide in which it had tumbled more than 350 points or 1.8 percent. The Hang Seng now rests just above the 19,920-point plateau although it's expected to spin its wheels on Thursday.

The global forecast for the Asian markets suggests consolidation over the outlook for interest rates and likely selling in the retail sector. The European and U.S. markets were down and the Asian bourses figure to open in similar fashion.

The Hang Seng finished modestly higher on Wednesday following gains from the financials, oil companies and properties, while the technology shares were mixed.

For the day, the index added 91.93 points or 0.46 percent to finish at 19,922.45 after trading between 19,800.58 and 20,069.85.

Among the actives, Alibaba Group rose 0.44 percent, while Alibaba Health Info declined 0.87 percent, ANTA Sports soared 2.29 percent, China Life Insurance collected 0.89 percent, China Mengniu Dairy tumbled 1.30 percent, China Petroleum and Chemical (Sinopec) spiked 1.69 percent, CITIC accelerated 1.68 percent, CNOOC advanced 0.73 percent, Country Garden plummeted 4.27 percent, CSPC Pharmaceutical plunged 4.14 percent, Galaxy Entertainment added 0.53 percent, Hang Lung Properties increased 0.30 percent, Henderson Land jumped 1.25 percent, Hong Kong & China Gas retreated 0.85 percent, Industrial and Commercial Bank of China gained 0.49 percent, JD.com climbed 0.90 percent, Lenovo lost 0.43 percent, Li Ning improved 0.36 percent, Longfor slumped 0.60 percent, Meituan surged 3.34 percent, New World Development rallied 0.94 percent, Techtronic Industries skyrocketed 10.14 percent, WuXi Biologics fell 0.36 percent and China Resources Land and Xiaomi Corporation were unchanged.

The lead from Wall Street is negative as the major averages opened lower on Wednesday, pared the losses as the day progressed but still ended firmly in the red.

The Dow dropped 171.69 points or 0.50 percent to finish at 33,980.32, while the NASDAQ tumbled 164.43 points or 1.25 percent to close at 12,938.12 and the S&P 500 slumped 31.16 points or 0.72 percent to end at 4,274.04.

The failed recovery attempt came after the Federal Reserve released the minutes of its latest monetary policy meeting, which some traders seemed to interpret as pointing to a slowdown in the pace of interest rate hikes. But the Fed minutes reaffirmed the central bank's plans to continue raising interest rates in an effort to return inflation to its 2 percent objective.

Quarterly results from Target (TGT) also weighed on the markets after reporting earnings fell well short of estimates as it cut prices in an effort to reduce excess inventory.

Traders were also reacting to a Commerce Department report showing U.S. retail sales came in flat in July amid pullbacks in gas station and auto sales.

Crude oil prices climbed higher Wednesday, lifted by data showing declines in crude and gasoline inventories in the U.S. last week. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for September ended higher by $1.58 or 1.8 percent at $88.11 a barrel.