Hong Kong Stock Market May Take Further Damage On Tuesday

(RTTNews) - The Hong Kong stock market has moved lower in consecutive trading days, slipping more than 50 points or 0.5 percent along the way. The Hang Seng Index now rests just above the 15,510-point plateau and it's looking at another soft start again on Tuesday.

The global forecast for the Asian markets is soft on fading hopes that the FOMC will trim interest rates at next month's meeting. The European and U.S. markets were down and the Asian markets figure to follow suit.

The Hang Seng finished slightly lower on Monday following losses from the properties and a mixed picture from the technology stocks.

For the day, the index dipped 23.55 points or 0.15 percent to finish at 15,510.01 after trading between 15,336.86 and 15,669.77.

Among the actives, Alibaba Group eased 0.07 percent, while Alibaba Health Info retreated 1.40 percent, ANTA Sports rallied 1.50 percent, China Life Insurance dropped 0.89 percent, China Mengniu Dairy tumbled 2.16 percent, China Resources Land slumped 1.06 percent, CITIC sank 0.68 percent, Country Garden slid 0.20 percent, CSPC Pharmaceutical declined 1.37 percent, ENN Energy plunged 3.00 percent, Galaxy Entertainment lost 0.46 percent, Hang Lung Properties plummeted 3.72 percent, Henderson Land stumbled 1.21 percent, Hong Kong & China Gas fell 0.36 percent, Industrial and Commercial Bank of China collected 0.26 percent, JD.com perked 0.06 percent, Lenovo skidded 1.00 percent, Li Ning jumped 1.69 percent, Meituan soared 2.85 percent, New World Development surrendered 2.29 percent, Techtronic Industries tanked 2,56 percent, Xiaomi Corporation shed 0.66 percent, WuXi Biologics surged 3.10 percent and CNOOC and Haier Smart Home were unchanged.

The lead from Wall Street negative as the major averages opened lower on Monday and remained in the red throughout the trading day.

The Dow tumbled 274.30 points or 0.71 percent to finish at 38,380.12, while the NASDAQ shed 31.28 points or 0.20 percent to end at 15,597.68 and the S&P 500 slipped 15.80 points or 0.32 percent to close at 4,942.81.

The early weakness on Wall Street came as some traders looked to cash in on last week's rally amid fading optimism about the likelihood the Federal Reserve will cut interest rates in March.

Fed Chair Jerome Powell reiterated the central bank is unlikely to cut interest rates next month during an interview over the weekend. Powell suggested the strength of the U.S. economy even amidst elevated rates will allow the Fed to proceed carefully.

Stocks fell to their lows of the session as the Institute for Supply Management released a report showing U.S. service sector growth accelerated by more than expected in January, further dampening hopes for a rate cut.

Oil futures settled higher on Monday as concerns about trade and supply disruptions outweighed a firm dollar. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for March settled lower by $0.50 or 0.7 percent a barrel at $72.78 a barrel.