Hong Kong Stock Market May Run Out Of Steam On Thursday

The Hong Kong stock market has climbed higher in three straight sessions, accelerating more than 825 points or 3.8 percent along the way. The Hang Seng now sits just above the 22,230-point plateau although it’s due for profit taking on Thursday.

The global forecast for the Asian markets is soft on fading hopes for peace talks between Russia and Ukraine. The European markets were mixed and the U.S. bourses were down and the Asian markets are expected to split the difference.

The Hang Seng finished sharply higher on Wednesday following gains from the financial shares, oil companies and financials.

For the day, the index surged 304.40 points or 1.39 percent to finish at 22,232.03 after trading between 22,033.78 and 22,391.35.

Among the actives, AAC Technologies soared 4.29 percent, while AIA Group gained 1.91 percent, Alibaba Group perked 0.35 percent, Alibaba Health Info improved 2.15 percent, ANTA Sports strengthened 2.34 percent, China Life Insurance increased 2.03 percent, China Mengniu Dairy rose 1.15 percent, China Petroleum and Chemical (Sinopec) added 0.51 percent, China Resources Land surged 4.96 percent, CITIC lost 0.47 percent, CNOOC gathered 1.83 percent, Country Garden skyrocketed 9.74 percent, CSPC Pharmaceutical rallied 3.37 percent, Galaxy Entertainment jumped 2.93 percent, Hang Lung Properties was up 0.76 percent, Henderson Land perked 1.22 percent, Hong Kong & China Gas shed 0.62 percent, Industrial and Commercial Bank of China collected 0.85 percent, JD.com dipped 0.17 percent, Li Ning accelerated 3.91 percent, Longfor spiked 3.97 percent, Meituan rose 0.50 percent, New World Development advanced 2.18 percent, Techtronic Industries climbed 2.21 percent, Xiaomi Corporation increased 0.28 percent and WuXi Biologics added 1.99 percent.

The lead from Wall Street is negative as the major averages opened lower on Wednesday and largely spent the entire day in the red.

The Dow shed 65.38 points or 0.19 percent to finish at 35,228.81, while the NASDAQ tumbled 177.36 points or 1.21 percent to end at 14,442.27 and the S&P 500 lost 29.15 points or 0.63 percent to close at 4,602.45.

The major U.S. averages ended lower Wednesday on news that Russia has continued to shell certain areas of Ukraine despite having promised to scale down military operations on Tuesday.

Rising worries about inflation and imminent aggressive monetary tightening by the Federal Reserve also weighed on sentiment.

In economic news, payroll processor ADP said private sector employment in the U.S. climbed more than expected in March. Also, the Commerce Department said the U.S. economy grew slightly less than estimated in Q4 2021.

Crude oil prices climbed higher Wednesday after data showed a drop in U.S. inventories last week, and amid a lack of progress in Russia-Ukraine peace talks. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for May ended higher by $3.58 or 3.4 percent at $107.82 a barrel.

Closer to home, Hong Kong will provide February data for retail sales later today; in January, the value of sales rose 1.7 percent on year.