Hong Kong Stock Market May Stop The Bleeding On Wednesday

The Hong Kong stock market has finished lower in three straight sessions, plummeting more than 2,450 points or 12.5 percent along the way. Now at a fresh six-year closing low, the Hang Seng sits just above the 18,415-point plateau although it’s overdue for support on Wednesday.

The global forecast for the Asian markets is upbeat on bargain hunting, particularly among the recently battered technology stocks. The European markets were down and the U.S. bourses were up and the Asian markets are tipped to follow the latter lead.

The Hang Seng finished with huge losses again on Tuesday with damage across the board, especially from the properties and technology stocks.

For the day, the index plummeted 1,116.58 points or 5.72 percent to finish at 18,415.08 after trading between 18,235.48 and 19,392.69.

Among the actives, AAC Technologies skidded 7.55 percent, while AIA Group shed 6.45 percent, Alibaba Group tumbled 11.93 percent, Alibaba Health Info tanked 12.23 percent, ANTA Sports climbed 1.10 percent, China Life Insurance weakened 6.61 percent, China Mengniu Dairy lost 2.73 percent, China Petroleum and Chemical (Sinopec) was down 3.50 percent, China Resources Land slumped 7.60 percent, CITIC slid 5.75 percent, CNOOC fell 5.81 percent, Country Garden plunged 12.82 percent, CSPC Pharmaceutical retreated 8.46 percent, Galaxy Entertainment surrendered 11.41 percent, Hang Lung Properties sank 6.57 percent, Henderson Land eased 1.60 percent, Hong Kong & China Gas skidded 2.96 percent, Industrial and Commercial Bank of China gave away 3.70 percent, Li Ning was down 2.49 percent, Longfor plummeted 15.40 percent, Meituan lost 5.86 percent, New World Development shed 3.16 percent, Techtronic Industries dropped 6.53 percent, Xiaomi Corporation stumbled 7.85 percent and WuXi Biologics declined 8.80 percent.

The lead from Wall Street is broadly positive as the major averages opened higher on Tuesday and accelerated as the day progressed, finishing near daily highs.

The Dow soared 599.10 points or 1.82 percent to finish at 33,544.34, while the NASDAQ surged 367.40 points or 2.92 percent to end at 12,948.62 and the S&P 500 jumped 89.34 points or 2.14 percent to close at 4,262.45.

The rebound on Wall Street followed Monday’s downturn as traders picked up stocks at reduced levels following recent weakness – particularly on the tech-heavy NASDAQ, which had fallen to its lowest closing level in over a year.

Traders also reacted positively to a report from the Labor Department showing producer prices increased slightly less than expected in February, even as the Federal Reserve prepares to announce its first rate hike since 2018 later today.

Crude oil prices fell sharply Tuesday amid fresh concerns over demand from China, where there has been a surge in Covid-19 cases, and on easing worries about supply disruptions. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for April dropped $6.57 or 6.4 percent at $96.44 a barrel, more than 25 percent off a recent high of $130.50 a barrel. WTI crude futures shed 5.8 percent on Monday.

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