Hong Kong Bourse Tipped To Take Further Damage On Friday

The Hong Kong stock market has moved lower in two straight sessions, sinking more than 500 points or 1.6 percent along the way. The Hang Seng Index now rests just shy of the 28,970-point plateau and it’s expected to open under pressure again on Friday.

The global forecast for the Asian markets is mixed to lower ahead of key U.S. jobs data later today, and the effect it may have on interest rates. The European markets were mixed and the U.S. bourses were down and the Asian market figure to split the difference.

The Hang Seng finished sharply lower on Thursday following losses from the financials and casinos, while the property and technology stocks were mixed.

For the day, the index tumbled 331.59 points or 1.13 percent to finish at 28,966.03 after trading between 28,902.67 and 29,377.90.

Among the actives, AAC Technologies surged 5.22 percent, while AIA Group tumbled 1.61 percent, Alibaba Group tanked 1.68 percent, Alibaba Health Info advanced 0.93 percent, ANTA Sports sank 1.27 percent, China Life Insurance and Industrial and Commercial Bank of China both fell 0.99 percent, China Mengniu Dairy shed 1.11 percent, China Resources Land skidded 1.51 percent, CITIC soared 3.95 percent, CNOOC rose 0.23 percent, Galaxy Entertainment slid 0.86 percent, Hang Lung Properties plunged 1.70 percent, Henderson Land jumped 1.81 percent, Hong Kong & China Gas was down 0.74 percent, Meituan retreated 1.41 percent, New World Development dropped 1.19 percent, Sands China surrendered 1.29 percent, Sun Hung Kai Properties lost 1.08 percent, Techtronic Industries plummeted 1.78 percent, Xiaomi Corporation spiked 2.39 percent, WuXi Biologics declined 1.32 percent and China Petroleum and Chemical (Sinopec), CSPC Pharmaceutical and Longfor were unchanged.

The lead from Wall Street is negative as stocks opened firmly lower on Thursday, made back some ground as the day progressed but still ended solidly in the red.

The Dow shed 23.34 points or 0.07 percent to finish at 34,577.04, while the NASDAQ plunged 141.82 points or 1.03 percent to end at 13,614.51 and the S&P 500 fell 15.27 points 0.36 percent to close at 4,192.85.

The early weakness on Wall Street came as strong jobs data led to renewed concerns about the outlook for monetary policy when payroll processor ADP said private sector employment in the U.S. spiked much more than expected in May.

Also, the Labor Department noted a modest decrease in first-time claims for U.S. jobless benefits last week. The data comes ahead of the Labor Department’s more closely watched report on the employment situation last month.

Crude oil futures settled roughly flat on Thursday after two straight days of strong gains as traders reacted to inventory data and weighed energy demand prospects. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for July ended down $0.02 at $68.81 a barrel.

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