Bargain Hunting May Boost Hong Kong Stock Market

The Hong Kong stock market has finished lower in four straight sessions, surrendering almost 1,000 points or 4.8 percent along the way. The Hang Seng Index now sits just above the 20,750-point plateau although it’s due for support on Friday.

The global forecast for the Asian markets is mixed to lower on continuing concerns over inflation, recession and interest rates. The European and U.S. markets were mostly lower and the Asian bourses figure to follow that lead.

The Hang Seng finished modestly lower on Thursday as losses from the financials, properties and oil companies were mitigated by support from the technology stocks.

For the day, the index lost 46.74 points or 0.22 percent to finish at 20,751.21 after trading between 20,554.15 and 20,888.80.

Among the actives, AAC Technologies spiked 3.75 percent, while Alibaba Group climbed 1.21 percent, Alibaba Health Info rallied 2.70 percent, ANTA Sports sank 0.53 percent, China Life Insurance declined 1.48 percent, China Mengniu Dairy shed 0.39 percent, China Petroleum and Chemical (Sinopec) and Hang Lung Properties both skidded 0.86 percent, China Resources Land plummeted 3.28 percent, CITIC gained 0.62 percent, CNOOC slumped 1.15 percent, Country Garden tanked 2.17 percent, CSPC Pharmaceutical soared 4.64 percent, Galaxy Entertainment added 0.77 percent, Henderson Land tumbled 1.58 percent, Hong Kong & China Gas dropped 0.84 percent, Industrial and Commercial Bank of China plunged 2.41 percent, JD.com jumped 2.69 percent, Lenovo strengthened 1.99 percent, Li Ning stumbled 1.54 percent, Meituan advanced 1.11 percent, New World Development retreated 1.30 percent, Techtronic Industries rose 0.18 percent, Xiaomi Corporation fell 0.16 percent, WuXi Biologics surged 4.88 percent and CK Infrastructure was unchanged.

The lead from Wall Street is mixed and flat as the major averages shook off a sharply lower open on Thursday, improving as the day progressed and ending little changed on opposite sides of the line.

The Dow shed 142.62 points or 0.46 percent to finish at 30,630.17, while the NASDAQ rose 3.60 points or 0.03 percent to close at 11,251.19 and the S&P 500 slid 11.40 points or 0.30 percent to end at 3,790.38.

The early weakness on Wall Street reflected disappointing earnings news from financial giants JPMorgan Chase (JPM) and Morgan Stanley (MS), which both missed expectations.

Concerns about inflation and higher interest rates also continued to weigh on the markets after the Labor Department reported that U.S. producer prices increased more than expected in June.

Another report from the Labor Department showed first-time claims for U.S. unemployment benefits unexpectedly inched higher last week.

Crude oil prices drifted lower on Thursday as concerns about the outlook for energy demand resurfaced amid fears of a possible recession due to rising interest rates. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for August ended lower by $0.52 or 0.5 percent at $95.78 a barrel.