Oversold Hang Seng Still Looking At Negative Open

(RTTNews) - The Hong Kong stock market has finished lower in four straight sessions, tumbling almost 1,000 points or 7 percent along the way. The Hang Seng Index now rests just above the 15,275-point plateau and it's expected to take further damage again on Thursday.

The global forecast for the Asian markets is negative on pessimism over the outlook for interest rates. The European and U.S. markets were down and the Asian bourses are expected to open in similar fashion.

The Hang Seng finished with huge losses on Wednesday and damage across the board, especially among the technology and property sectors.

For the day, the index plummeted 589.02 points or 3.71 percent to finish at 15,276.90 after trading between 15,194.94 and 15,764.38.

Among the actives, Alibaba Group fell 4.02 percent, while Alibaba Health Info plummeted 8.57 percent, ANTA Sports declined 6.15 percent, China Life Insurance shed 4.48 percent, China Mengniu Dairy sank 4.56 percent, China Resources Land lost 4.34 percent, CITIC and Henderson Land both skidded 4.97 percent, CNOOC gave up 2.37 percent, Country Garden surrendered 6.29 percent, CSPC Pharmaceutical diminished 1.96 percent, Galaxy Entertainment dipped 2.76 percent, Hang Lung Properties plunged 7.14 percent, Hong Kong & China Gas slid 3.97 percent, Industrial and Commercial Bank of China was down 2.47 percent, JD.com retreated 6.05 percent, Lenovo slipped 3.63 percent, Li Ning tumbled 6.21 percent, Meituan tanked 6.97 percent, New World Development slumped 5.64 percent, Techtronic Industries eased 1.42 percent, Xiaomi Corporation dropped 4.92 percent and WuXi Biologics stumbled 5.25 percent.

The lead from Wall Street is weak as the major averages opened sharply lower on Wednesday and stayed that way, although they managed to finish well off session lows.

The Dow dropped 94.45 point or 0.25 percent to finish at 37,266.67, while the NASDAQ slumped 88.72 points or 0.59 percent to close at 14,855.62 and the S&P 500 lost 26.77 points or 0.56 percent to end at 4,739.21.

The early weakness on Wall Street reflected ongoing uncertainty about the outlook for interest rates amid recent concerns the Federal Reserve won't lower rates as early as previously hoped.

Adding to worries the Fed will hold off on cutting rates, the Commerce Department released a report showing U.S. retail sales increased by more than expected in December.

A separate report from the Federal Reserve also showed an unexpected uptick in U.S. industrial production last month.

Crude oil futures settled higher on Wednesday, although concerns about the outlook for oil demand and a firm dollar limited the uptick in oil prices. West Texas Intermediate crude oil futures for February rose $0.16 at $72.56 a barrel.