Higher Open Anticipated For Hong Kong Stock Market

(RTTNews) - The Hong Kong stock market has tracked higher in two of three trading days since the end of the two-day losing streak in which it had lost more than 55 points or 0.2 percent. The Hang Seng Index now sits just above the 19,760-point plateau and it may see additional support on Monday.

The global forecast for the Asian markets is upbeat, with support expected from the technology and oil stocks, in particular. The European markets were down and the U.S. bourses were up and the Asian markets are tipped to follow the latter lead.

The Hang Seng finished modestly higher on Friday following gains from the financial shares, oil companies and technology stocks, while the property sector was mixed.

For the day, the index gained 136.95 points or 0.70 percent to finish at 19,760.27 after trading between 19,634.07 and 19,891.86.

Among the actives, Alibaba Group rallied 1.60 percent, while Alibaba Health Info declined 0.93 percent, ANTA Sports lost 0.26 percent, China Life Insurance and Henderson Land both gained 0.43 percent, China Mengniu Dairy and New World Development both stumbled 1.79 percent, China Resources Land advanced 1.13 percent, CITIC sank 0.80 percent, CNOOC added 0.74 percent, CSPC Pharmaceutical dropped 0.86 percent, Galaxy Entertainment soared 2.48 percent, Haier Smart Home retreated 1.68 percent, Hang Lung Properties stumbled 2.28 percent, Hong Kong & China Gas perked 0.33 percent, Industrial and Commercial Bank of China collected 0.82 percent, JD.com strengthened 1.28 percent, Lenovo rose 0.41 percent, Li Auto accelerated 2.29 percent, Li Ning slumped 0.88 percent, Meituan spiked 2.06 percent, Nongfu Spring jumped 1.51 percent, Techtronic Industries climbed 1.19 percent, Xiaomi Corporation surged 6.62 percent and WuXi Biologics improved 1.07 percent.

The lead from Wall Street is upbeat as the major averages opened higher on Friday and remained in the green throughout the day, ending near session highs.

The Dow jumped 339.83 points or 0.80 percent to finish at 42,732.13, while the NASDAQ rallied 340.88 points or 1.77 percent to close at 19,621.68 and the S&P 500 climbed 73.92 points or 1.26 percent to end at 5,942.47.

For the holiday-interrupted week, the Dow slid 0.6 percent, while the NASDAQ and the S&P 500 both fell 0.5 percent.

The strength on Wall Street came as traders looked to pick up stocks at relatively reduced levels following recent weakness. Some traders also remained away from their desks following the New Year's Day holiday on Wednesday.

In U.S. economic news, the Institute for Supply Management said manufacturing activity contracted at a slower rate in December.

Oil prices climbed higher Friday amid optimism for the outlook for demand on recent data showing a drop in U.S. crude inventories. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for February closed higher by $0.83 or 1.13 percent at $73.96 a barrel.