Lower Open Predicted For Hong Kong Stock Market

(RTTNews) - The Hong Kong stock market has tracked lower in two straight sessions, stumbling more than 360 points or 2.1 percent along the way. The Hang Seng Index now sits just shy of the 17,300-point plateau and it's got another weak lead for Tuesday's trade.

The global forecast for the Asian markets is negative on trade concerns emanating from protests in China. The European and U.S. markets were solidly in the red and the Asian bourses are expected to open in similar fashion.

The Hang Seng finished sharply lower on Monday following losses from the financials, properties and oil and technology stocks.

For the day, the index tumbled 275.64 points or 1.57 percent to finish at 17,297.94 after trading between 16,833.68 and 17,364.21.

Among the actives, Alibaba Group surrendered 3.41 percent, while Alibaba Health Info eased 0.18 percent, ANTA Sports slid 0.55 percent, China Life Insurance tumbled 4.10 percent, China Mengniu Dairy fell 0.64 percent, China Petroleum and Chemical (Sinopec) dropped 1.69 percent, China Resources Land declined 3.07 percent, CITIC slumped 2.68 percent, CNOOC skidded 1.76 percent, Country Garden plummeted 10.82 percent, CSPC Pharmaceutical rose 0.31 percent, Galaxy Entertainment added 0.47 percent, Hang Lung Properties stumbled 2.56 percent, Henderson Land retreated 2.89 percent, Hong Kong & China Gas sank 1.53 percent, Industrial and Commercial Bank of China weakened 1.82 percent, JD.com tanked 4.33 percent, Lenovo shed 1.43 percent, Li Ning soared 2.34 percent, Longfor plunged 5.03 percent, Meituan rallied 2.05 percent, New World Development jumped 1.48 percent, Techtronic Industries advanced 0.74 percent, Xiaomi Corporation sank 1.58 percent and WuXi Biologics lost 0.84 percent.

The lead from Wall Street is bleak as the major averages opened lower on Monday and the losses accelerated as the day progressed, closing near session lows.

The Dow plunged 497.57 points or 1.45 percent to finish at 33,849.46, while the NASDAQ tumbled 176.86 points or 1.58 percent to close at 11,049.50 and the S&P 500 slumped 62.18 points or 1.54 percent to end at 3,963.94.

Concerns about developments in China fueled the substantial pullback on Wall Street, as widespread protests against the Beijing's zero-Covid restriction policy broke out over the weekend.

The weakness on Wall Street may also have reflected lingering uncertainty about the outlook for interest rates ahead of next month's Federal Reserve meeting.

While the Fed is widely expected to slow the pace of interest rate hikes next month, the minutes of the central bank's early November meeting suggested some officials think rates will be to be raised higher than previously anticipated.

Crude oil prices shook off early weakness and moved higher on Monday amid speculation that OPEC will seriously consider a new production cut at its meeting later this week. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for January gained $0.96 or 1.3 percent at $77.24 a barrel.