The Hong Kong stock market has finished lower in three straight sessions, plunging more than 1,170 points or 4.6 percent along the way. The Hang Seng Index now sits just above the 25,030-point plateau although it’s overdue for support on Thursday.
The global forecast for the Asian markets is cautiously optimistic, riding a spike in crude oil prices and some bargain hunting. The European markets were down and the U.S. bourses were up and the Asian markets figure to split the difference.
The Hang Seng finished sharply lower on Wednesday following huge losses from the casinos and more measured weakness from the properties and oil companies.
For the day, the index plummeted 469.02 points or 1.84 percent to finish at 25,033.21 after trading between 24,990.94 and 25,411.91.
Among the actives, AAC Technologies shed 1.11 percent, while AIA Group tumbled 3.90 percent, Alibaba Group declined 2.72 percent, Alibaba Health Info plunged 4.59 percent, ANTA Sports sank 1.57 percent, China Life Insurance slid 0.60 percent, China Mengniu Dairy soared 2.43 percent, China Petroleum and Chemical (Sinopec) dipped 0.51 percent, China Resources Land retreated 2.90 percent, CNOOC was down 0.24 percent, Country Garden skidded 3.47 percent, CSPC Pharmaceutical weakened 1.86 percent, Galaxy Entertainment plummeted 20.02 percent, Hang Lung Properties dropped 1.34 percent, Henderson Land gained 0.44 percent, Hong Kong & China Gas added 0.48 percent, Li Ning surged 3.59 percent, Longfor stumbled 1.72 percent, Meituan tanked 4.49 percent, New World Development fell 0.98 percent, Sands China cratered 32.51 percent, Sun Hung Kai Properties lost 1.02 percent, Techtronic Industries surrendered 2.10 percent, Xiaomi Corporation eased 0.22 percent, WuXi Biologics rose 0.09 percent and CITIC and Industrial and Commercial Bank of China were unchanged.
The lead from Wall Street is positive as the major averages opened lower on Wednesday but quickly turned higher, continuing to pick up steam heading into the close.
The Dow spiked 236.82 points or 0.68 percent to finish at 34,814.39, while the NASDAQ jumped 123.77 points or 0.82 percent to end at 15,161.53 and the S&P 500 gained 37.65 points or 0.85 percent to close at 4,480.70.
The strength that emerged on Wall Street may partly have reflected bargain hunting following the downward trend seen over the past several sessions.
Traders were also digesting the latest batch of data, including a report from the Fed showing industrial production in the U.S. increased less than expected in August. Also, the Labor Department said U.S. import prices fell last month for the first time since October 2020.
Crude oil prices rose sharply Wednesday, lifting the most active crude futures contracts to a nearly seven-week closing high after data showed a larger than expected drop in U.S. crude inventories last week. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for October ended up by $2.15 or 3.1 percent at $72.61 a barrel, the highest settlement since July 30.
Closer to home, Hong Kong will release August unemployment data later today; in July, the jobless rate was 5.0 percent.
Market Analysis
Hong Kong Bourse Tipped To Halt Losing Streak
2021-09-16 01:00:12
