Lower Open Anticipated For Hong Kong Stock Market

The Hong Kong stock market has alternated between positive and negative finishes through the last four trading days since the end of the two-day losing streak in which it had stumbled more than 330 points or 1.6 percent. The Hang Seng Index now rests just beneath the 21,870-point plateau and it’s looking at another soft start again on Friday.

The global forecast for the Asian markets is soft on concerns for inflation and economic growth. The European and U.S. markets were firmly lower and the Asian bourses are tipped to open in similar fashion.

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

For the day, the index lost 145.54 points or 0.66 percent to finish at 21,869.05 after trading between 21,737.94 and 22,142.82.

Among the actives, AAC Technologies retreated 1.58 percent, while Alibaba Group soared 2.30 percent, Alibaba Health Info eased 0.21 percent, ANTA Sports plummeted 4.39 percent, China Life Insurance dropped 0.98 percent, China Mengniu Dairy declined 1.89 percent, China Petroleum and Chemical (Sinopec) slumped 0.52 percent, China Resources Land surged 2.38 percent, CITIC and Hong Kong & China Gas both added 0.23 percent, CNOOC spiked 2.15 percent, Country Garden rallied 1.78 percent, CSPC Pharmaceutical stumbled 1.31 percent, Galaxy Entertainment skidded 1.23 percent, Hang Lung Properties climbed 0.80 percent, Industrial and Commercial Bank of China lost 0.44 percent, JD.com surrendered 2.05 percent, Lenovo sank 0.77 percent, Li Ning plunged 4.31 percent, Meituan tumbled 3.07 percent, Techtronic Industries fell 0.30 percent, Xiaomi Corporation tanked 3.18 percent, WuXi Biologics jumped 1.79 percent and Henderson Land and New World Development were unchanged.

The lead from Wall Street broadly negative as the major averages opened slightly lower on Thursday but the losses accelerated sharply in the final hour of trade, sending them deep into the red at the finish.

The Dow plunged 638.11 points or 1.94 percent to finish at 32,272.79, while the NASDAQ plummeted 332.04 points or 2.75 percent to end at 11,754.23 and the S&P 500 sank 97.95 points or 2.38 percent to close at 4,017.82.

The sell-off on Wall Street came as traders looked ahead to the release of a Labor Department report on consumer price inflation later today. The report is expected to show that consumer prices increased by 0.7 percent in May after rising by 0.3 percent in April.

The inflation data could have an impact on the outlook for monetary policy ahead of the Federal Reserve’s decision on interest rates next Wednesday.

On the economic front, a report released by the Labor Department showed first-time claims for U.S. unemployment benefits rose by more than expected in the week ended June 4th.

Crude oil prices drifted lower on Thursday as demand concerns resurfaced following authorities in Shanghai imposing new Covid-related restrictions. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for July ended down by $0.60 or 0.5 percent at $121.51 a barrel.