The Hong Kong stock market has finished lower in three straight sessions, plummeting almost 800 points or 3 percent along the way. The Hang Seng Index now rests just above the 27,220-point plateau although it’s expected to find traction on Thursday.
The global forecast for the Asian markets is positive, led by a strong rebound in energy stocks. The European and U.S. markets were up and the Asian bourses are predicted to follow that lead.
The Hang Seng finished slightly lower on Wednesday following losses from the technology stocks, gains from the casinos and a mixed picture from the properties.
For the day, the index slipped 34.67 points or 0.13 percent to finish at 27,224.58 after trading between 26,971.03 and 27,371.50.
Among the actives, AAC Technologies soared 1.83 percent, while AIA Group gained 0.54 percent, Alibaba Group perked 0.10 percent, Alibaba Health Info slid 0.14 percent, ANTA Sports tanked 2.29 percent, China Life Insurance sank 0.59 percent, China Mengniu Dairy climbed 1,14 percent, China Petroleum and Chemical (Sinopec) lost 0.28 percent, China Resources Land shed 0.33 percent, CITIC retreated 1.00 percent, CSPC Pharmaceutical fell 0.19 percent, Galaxy Entertainment was up 0.09 percent, Hang Lung Properties added 0.55 percent, Hong Kong & China Gas spiked 1.46 percent, Industrial and Commercial Bank of China dropped 0.45 percent, Longfor jumped 1.20 percent, Meituan tumbled 1.82 percent, New World Development dipped 0.13 percent, Sands China rose 0.51 percent, Sun Hung Kai Properties advanced 0.70 percent, Techtronic Industries skidded 1.22 percent, Xiaomi Corporation plunged 2.72 percent, WuXi Biologics plummeted 4.49 percent and CNOOC and Henderson Land were unchanged.
The lead from Wall Street is solid as the major averages opened higher on Wednesday and remained firmly in the green throughout the session.
The Dow jumped 286.01 points or 0.83 percent to finish at 34,798.00, while the NASDAQ climbed 133.08 points or 0.92 percent to end at 14,631.95 and the S&P 500 added 35.63 points or 0.82 percent to close at 4,358.69.
The continued strength on Wall Street reflected a positive reaction to the latest batch of earnings news from several big-name companies including Coca-Cola (KO), Verizon (VZ) and Johnson & Johnson (JNJ), although Netflix (NFLX) disappointed.
Energy stocks spiked as crude oil futures settled sharply higher on Wednesday, rebounding strongly after suffering a sharp drop earlier in the week. West Texas Intermediate crude oil futures for September ended up $3.10 or 4.6 percent at $70.30 a barrel.
Significant strength was also visible among airline stocks, as reflected by the 3.2 percent jump by the NYSE Arca Airline Index. The index continued to rebound after ending Monday’s trading at a five-month closing low.
Closer to home, Hong Kong will see June numbers for consumer prices later today; in May, the annual inflation rate was 1.0 percent.
Market Analysis
Higher Open Predicted For Hong Kong Stock Market
2021-07-22 01:15:18
