The Hong Kong stock market on Wednesday snapped the four-day losing streak in which it had stumbled almost 920 points or 3.7 percent. The Hang Seng Index now rests just beneath the 25,870-point plateau although it may turn lower again on Thursday.
The global forecast for the Asian markets suggests consolidation on concerns over the outlook for interest rates and sinking crude oil prices. The European markets were mixed and the U.S. bourses were down and the Asian markets figure to follow the latter lead.
The Hang Seng finished modestly higher on Wednesday following gains from the properties, casinos, financials and oil companies.
For the day, the index gained 121.12 points or 0.47 percent to finish at 25,867.01 after trading between 25,708.95 and 26,025.14.
Among the actives, AAC Technologies gained 0.66 percent, while AIA Group rose 0.57 percent, Alibaba Group and CITIC both dipped 0.12 percent, Alibaba Health Info added 0.68 percent, ANTA Sports gathered 1.30 percent, China Life Insurance and Meituan both spiked 2.15 percent, China Mengniu Dairy climbed 1.51 percent, China Petroleum and Chemical (Sinopec) and Sands China both advanced 0.83 percent, China Resources Land plunged 2.21 percent, CNOOC soared 2.35 percent, Country Garden eased 0.09 percent, CSPC Pharmaceutical tanked 2.14 percent, Galaxy Entertainment improved 0.42 percent, Hang Lung Properties surged 4.12 percent, Henderson Land increased 0.56 percent, Hong Kong & China Gas perked 1.25 percent, Industrial and Commercial Bank of China collected 0.69 percent, Longfor sank 0.40 percent, Sun Hung Kai Properties jumped 1.81 percent, Techtronic Industries plummeted 5.27 percent, Xiaomi Corporation was up 0.41 percent, WuXi Biologics tumbled 0.97 percent and New World Development and Wharf Real Estate were unchanged.
The lead from Wall Street is negative as the major averages opened slightly lower on Wednesday and hugged the line for much of the day but then accelerated into the red toward the close.
The Dow tumbled 382.59 points or 1.08 percent to finish at 34,960.69, while the NASDAQ dropped 130.27 points or 0.89 percent to close at 14,525.91 and the S&P 500 sank 47.81 points or 1.07 percent to end at 4,400.27.
The sell-off on Wall Street came as the Fed minutes revealed most officials at the central bank’s July monetary policy meeting believe it will be appropriate to begin tapering asset purchases this year.
The minutes showed participants also expressed a range of views on the appropriate pace of tapering asset purchases once economic conditions satisfied the “substantial further progress” criterion.
Reflecting the recent surge in new cases of the delta variant of the coronavirus, several participants noted their views on the appropriate path of asset purchases could change if the economic effects of the new strains of the virus turn out to be notably worse than anticipated.
Crude oil prices drifted lower Wednesday on concerns about the outlook for energy demand amid the surge in the delta variant of the coronavirus in several countries. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for September ended down $1.13 or 1.7 percent at $65.46 a barrel, the lowest close since May 21.
Closer to home, Hong Kong will see July figures for consumer prices later today; in June, inflation was up 0.7 percent on year.
Market Analysis
Hong Kong Stock Market May Hand Back Wednesday’s Gains
2021-08-19 01:15:40
