Hong Kong Bourse May See Profit Taking On Thursday

Ahead of Wednesday’s holiday for the Mid-Autumn Festival, the Hong Kong stock market had moved higher in four straight sessions, collecting more than 550 points or 3.2 percent along the way. The Hang Seng Index now sits just above the 17,660-point plateau although investors may lock in gains on Thursday.

The global forecast for the Asian markets is negative after the Federal Reserve announced its well-telegraphed rate cut. The European and U.S. markets saw mild losses and the Asian bourses are tipped to follow suit.

The Hang Seng finished sharply higher on Tuesday with gains across the board, especially among the financials, properties and technology stocks.

For the day, the index rallied 237.90 points or 1.37 percent to finish at 17,660.02 after trading between 17,368.14 and 17,715.77.

Among the actives, Alibaba Group gathered 1.04 percent, while Alibaba Health Info soared 3.64 percent, ANTA Sports rose 1.44 percent, China Life Insurance added 1.58 percent, China Mengniu Dairy increased 1.76 percent, China Resources Land picked up 0.63 percent, CITIC spiked 2.85 percent, CNOOC improved 1.95 percent, Galaxy Entertainment jumped 2.12 percent, Haier Smart Home tumbled 2.30 percent, Hang Lung Properties climbed 2.04 percent, Henderson Land strengthened 2.10 percent, Hong Kong & China Gas accelerated 2.54 percent, Industrial and Commercial Bank of China collected 1.88 percent, JD.com perked 0.87 percent, Lenovo was up 0.43 percent, Li Auto skyrocketed 6.26 percent, Li Ning rallied 2.17 percent, Meituan advanced 1.66 percent, New World Development surged 5.48 percent, Techtronic Industries dipped 0.18 percent, Xiaomi Corporation gained 1.46 percent, WuXi Biologics powered 0.52 percent and CSPC Pharmaceutical and Nongfu Spring were unchanged.

The lead from Wall Street is soft as the major averages hugged the line until the Fed’s monetary policy announcement; after an initial spike, they turned lower and ended in the red.

The Dow sank 103.08 points or 0.25 percent to finish at 41,503.10, while the NASDAQ shed 54.76 points or 0.31 percent to close at 17,573.30 and the S&P 500 fell 16.32 points or 0.29 percent to end at 5,618.26.

The late-day volatility on Wall Street came after the Fed decided to lower interest rates for the first time in over four years, aggressively slashing rates by half a percentage point.

The economic projections provided by Fed officials at the meeting suggested the central bank will cut rates by another 50 basis points by the end of the year.

Fed officials also expect to continue lowering rates next year, with the projections indicating rates will be lower by another full percentage point by the end of 2025.

Thanks to profit taking, crude oil futures settled lower on Wednesday, despite a drop in U.S. crude inventories and the rate cut. West Texas Intermediate crude oil futures for October ended down $0.28 or 0.39 percent at $70.91 a barrel.

Closer to home, Hong Kong will release August figures for unemployment later today, with forecasts suggesting no change from the 3.0 percent reading in July.