Hong Kong Stock Market Tipped To Open In The Green

The Hong Kong stock market on Thursday snapped the four-day losing streak in which it had tumbled more than 910 points or 5.3 percent. The Hang Seng Index now sits just above the 17,040-point plateau and it’s expected to open higher again on Friday.

The global forecast for the Asian markets is mostly positive, although technology companies may fall under pressure. The European markets were up and the U.S. bourses were mostly higher and the Asian markets also figure to move into the green.

The Hang Seng finished modestly higher on Thursday following gains from the financial shares and mixed performances from the property and technology sectors.

For the day, the index gained 49.44 points or 0.29 percent to finish at 17,042.88 after trading between 16,863.05 and 17,068.26.

Among the actives, Alibaba Group was up 0.07 percent, while Alibaba Health Info plummeted 3.90 percent, ANTA Sports strengthened 1.05 percent, China Life Insurance added 0.19 percent, China Mengniu Dairy rallied 1.03 percent, China Resources Land jumped 1.24 percent, CITIC spiked 1.52 percent, CNOOC soared 1.56 percent, CSPC Pharmaceutical advanced 0.71 percent, Galaxy Entertainment increased 0.37 percent, Hang Lung Properties tumbled 1.51 percent, Hong Kong & China Gas accelerated 1.32 percent, Industrial and Commercial Bank of China collected 0.54 percent, JD.com rose 0.09 percent, Lenovo improved 0.52 percent, Li Ning surged 1.87 percent, Meituan gained 0.17 percent, New World Development dropped 0.85 percent, Techtronic Industries sank 0.81 percent, Xiaomi Corporation climbed 0.90 percent, WuXi Biologics plunged 2.68 percent and Country Garden and Henderson Land were unchanged.

The lead from Wall Street is inconsistent as the major averages opened higher on Thursday, with the Dow remaining solidly in the green throughout the session. The NASDAQ quickly turned lower and stayed in the red, while the S&P also fell into negative territory but staged a late rally into positive territory.

The Dow surged 520.47 points or 1.47 percent to finish at 35,950.89, while the NASDAQ slumped 32.27 points or 0.23 percent to close at 14,226.22 and the S&P 500 added 17.22 points or 0.38 percent to end at 4,567.80.

The surge by the Dow was due in large part to a spike by shares of Salesforce (CRM), with the cloud software company soaring by 9.4 percent after it reported better than expected fiscal third quarter earnings and provided upbeat guidance.

Meanwhile, the decrease by the NASDAQ came amid a rebound by treasury yields, as the yield on the benchmark ten-year note bounced off its lowest levels in over two months.

In economic news, the Commerce Department reported that consumer price growth in the U.S. slowed in line with estimates in October.

Oil prices tumbled on Thursday despite an announcement from OPEC that members have agreed to voluntarily output cuts for the first quarter of 2024. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures ended lower by $1.90 or 2.4 percent at $75.96 a barrel.

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