Hong Kong Stock Market Has Red Light For Thursday’s Trade

The Hong Kong stock market on Wednesday halted the three-day slide in which it had tumbled almost 1,300 points or 5.2 percent. The Hang Seng Index now rests just above the 23,650-point plateau although it’s tipped to open under pressure again on Thursday.

The global forecast for the Asian markets is soft on lockdown concerns resulting from the Omicron strain of COVID-19. The European markets were up and the U.S. bourses were sharply lower and the Asian markets figure to follow the latter lead.

The Hang Seng finished modestly higher on Wednesday as gains from the financials, technology stocks and oil companies were capped by weakness from the casinos and properties.

For the day, the index gained 183.66 points or 0.78 percent to finish at 23,658.92 after trading between 23,537.65 and 23,864.30.

Among the actives, AAC Technologies skidded 1.18 percent, while AIA Group improved 0.43 percent, Alibaba Group tumbled 1.26 percent, Alibaba Health Info tanked 1.53 percent, ANTA Sports added 1.05 percent, China Life Insurance gained 0.93 percent, China Petroleum and Chemical (Sinopec) soared 2.93 percent, China Resources Land increased 0.46 percent, CITIC accelerated 1.99 percent, CNOOC jumped 1.57 percent, Country Garden fell 0.21 percent, CSPC Pharmaceutical was up 0.25 percent, Galaxy Entertainment plunged 2.93 percent, Hang Lung Properties sank 1.03 percent, Henderson Land advanced 1.10 percent, Industrial and Commercial Bank of China collected 1.46 percent, Li Ning shed 0.45 percent, Longfor rose 0.54 percent, Meituan spiked 2.77 percent, New World Development dropped 0.49 percent, Sands China plummeted 4.24 percent, Sun Hung Kai Properties lost 0.37 percent, Techtronic Industries surged 3.98 percent, Xiaomi Corporation climbed 1.45 percent, WuXi Biologics rallied 1.41 percent and China Mengniu Dairy and Hong Kong & China Gas were unchanged.

The lead from Wall Street ends up broadly negative as the major averages opened sharply higher on Wednesday but then plummeted deep into the red in the final hour of trade.

The Dow plunged 461.68 points or 1.34 percent to finish at 34,022.04, while the NASDAQ tumbled 283.64 points or 1.83 percent to close at 15,254.05 and the S&P 500 sank 53.96 points or 1.18 percent to end at 4,513.04.

The substantial downturn on Wall Street came after the Center for Disease Control and Prevention revealed the first confirmed case of Covid-19 caused by the new Omicron variant has been detected in the U.S.

“The individual, who was fully vaccinated and had mild symptoms that are improving, is self-quarantining and has been since testing positive,” the CDC said. “All close contacts have been contacted and have tested negative.”

Traders largely shrugged off the latest U.S. economic news, including a report from payroll processor ADP showing that private sector employment increased more than expected in November. Also, the Institute for Supply Management said manufacturing activity grew at a slightly faster rate last month.

Crude oil prices showed a strong move to the upside in early trading on Wednesday but came under pressure over the course of the session on news of the Omicron case. Crude for January delivery slumped $0.61 or 0.9 percent $65.57 a barrel, its lowest closing level in three months.