Hong Kong Stock Market May Take Further Damage On Friday

The Hong Kong stock market has finished lower in two straight sessions, sinking more than 300 points or 1.5 percent along the way. The Hang Seng now rests just beneath the 20,800-point plateau and it’s expected to open lower again on Friday.

The global forecast for the Asian markets suggests consolidation on concerns for the outlook for interest rates and the global economy. The European and U.S. markets were solidly lower and the Asian bourses are tipped to open in similar fashion.

The Hang Seng finished modestly lower on Thursday following losses from the properties, gains from the oil companies and a mixed picture from the technology stocks.

For the day, the index dropped 76.12 points or 0.36 percent to finish at 20,793.40 after trading between 20,776.97 and 21,284.85.

Among the actives, AAC Technologies tanked 2.07 percent, while Alibaba Group rose 0.16 percent, Alibaba Health Info spiked 1.47 percent, ANTA Sports was down 0.06 percent, China Life Insurance lost 0.34 percent, China Mengniu Dairy stumbled 1.20 percent, China Petroleum and Chemical (Sinopec) added 0.51 percent, China Resources Land tumbled 1.78 percent, CITIC sank 0.84 percent, CNOOC advanced 0.73 percent, Country Garden plunged 3.79 percent, CSPC Pharmaceutical surged 1.88 percent, Galaxy Entertainment declined 1.31 percent, Hang Lung Properties gained 0.40 percent, Henderson Land shed 0.47 percent, Hong Kong & China Gas skidded 1.04 percent, Industrial and Commercial Bank of China retreated 1.27 percent, JD.com climbed 0.83 percent, Lenovo jumped 0.92 percent, Li Ning eased 0.08 percent, Meituan was up 0.12 percent, New World Development dropped 0.99 percent, Techtronic Industries surrendered 1.43 percent, Xiaomi Corporation soared 1.76 percent and WuXi Biologics plummeted 5.41 percent.

The lead from Wall Street is broadly negative as the major averages opened under pressure and saw the losses accelerate as the day progressed, finishing deep in the red.

The Dow plummeted 1,063 points or 3.12 percent to finish at 32,997.97, while the NASDAQ plunged 647.16 points or 4.99 percent to close at 12,317.16 and the S&P 500 tumbled 153.30 points or 3.56 percent to end at 4,146.87.

The sell-off on Wall Street came as traders cashed in on the rally that followed the Federal Reserve’s monetary policy announcement on Wednesday, which was less hawkish than some had feared.

But concerns about higher rates, inflation, the economic outlook and the ongoing war in Ukraine remain, contributing to the sharp pullback on Wall Street. A sharp increase in treasury yields also weighed as the yield on the benchmark ten-year note hit to its highest levels in three years.

Traders were also looking ahead to the release of the Labor Department’s closely watched monthly jobs report later today.

Crude oil futures settled higher Thursday, benefitting from the European Union proposal to impose sanctions on Russian oil, although prices pared some gains as the dollar rebounded on safe haven buying. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for June ended higher by $0.45 or 0.4 percent at $108.26 a barrel.

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