Hong Kong Bourse Expected To Find Traction On Monday

(RTTNews) - Ahead of Friday's holiday for Vesak Day, the Hong Kong stock market had moved lower in three straight sessions, plummeting more than 930 points or 4.8 percent along the way. The Hang Seng Index now sits just beneath the 18,750-point plateau although it's due for support on Monday.

The global forecast for the Asian markets is upbeat thanks to an apparent resolution to the U.S. debt ceiling crisis forged over the weekend. The European and U.S. markets were up and the Asian bourses are expected to follow suit.

The Hang Seng finished sharply lower on Thursday with damage across the board, especially among the financial shares, technology stocks and properties.

For the day, the index tumbled 369.01 points or 1.93 percent to finish at 18.746.92 after trading between 18,620.84 and 18,930.23.

Among the actives, Alibaba Group tumbled 2.96 percent, while Alibaba Health Info rallied 2.14 percent, ANTA Sports sank 1.54 percent, China Life Insurance weakened 1.86 percent, China Mengniu Dairy and Industrial and Commercial Bank of China both dropped 1.63 percent, China Resources Land slumped 2.57 percent, CITIC lost 1.35 percent, CNOOC skidded 1.73 percent, Country Garden fell 1.29 percent, CSPC Pharmaceutical declined 2.95 percent, Galaxy Entertainment slid 1.10 percent, Hang Lung Properties retreated 2.58 percent, Henderson Land dipped 0.75 percent, Hong Kong & China Gas eased 0.27 percent, JD.com plunged 3.84 percent, Lenovo shed 1.38 percent, Li Ning plummeted 4.32 percent, Meituan tanked 3.37 percent, New World Development stumbled 1.45 percent, Xiaomi Corporation advanced 0.96 percent, WuXi Biologics surrendered 3.16 percent and Techtronic Industries was unchanged.

The lead from Wall Street is broadly positive as the major averages opened higher on Friday and remained solidly in the green throughout the session.

The Dow surged 328.64 points or 1.00 percent to finish at 33,093.34, while the NASDAQ spiked 277.59 points or 2.19 percent to end at 12,975.69 and the S&P 500 jumped 54.17 points or 1.30 percent to close at 4,205.45. For the week, the Dow slumped 1.0 percent, the NASDAQ rallied 2.5 percent and the S&P rose 0.3 percent.

Stocks benefitted from renewed optimism about raising the U.S. debt ceiling amid reports lawmakers are closing in on an agreement.

Those hopes came to fruition over the weekend when President Joe Biden and House Speaker Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., reached an agreement in principle. It will raise the debt ceiling for two years and keep non-defense spending roughly flat for fiscal 2024.

Optimism about a debt ceiling deal overshadowed a Commerce Department report showing a reacceleration in the annual rate of consumer price growth in the month of April.

Crude oil prices climbed higher on Friday after Russia played down the prospect of additional output cuts by OPEC. West Texas Intermediate crude oil futures for July ended higher by $0.84 or 1.2 percent at $72.67 a barrel. WTI crude futures gained about 1.6 percent last week.

Closer to home, Hong Kong will release April figures for imports, exports and trade balance. In March, imports were down 0.6 percent on month and exports fell 1.5 percent on month for a trade deficit of HKD40.6 billion.