Hong Kong Stock Market Has A Green Light For Friday’s Trade

The Hong Kong stock market on Thursday ended the seven-day losing streak in which it had plummeted more than 1,100 points or 4.4 percent. The Hang Seng Index now rests just above the 25,225-point plateau and it’s expected to add to its winnings on Friday.

The global forecast for the Asian markets suggests lid upside, with optimism over interest rates offset by weakness from crude oil prices. The European markets were up and the U.S. markets were mixed and the Asian markets figure to split the difference.

The Hang Seng finished modestly higher on Thursday following mixed performances from the properties, casinos and oil and technology stocks.

For the day, the index jumped 200.44 points or 0.80 percent to finish at 25,225.19 after trading between 25,010.36 and 25,244.98.

Among the actives, AAC Technologies rose 0.31 percent, while AIA Group dropped 0.52 percent, Alibaba Group spiked 3.11 percent, Alibaba Health Info strengthened 0.34 percent, ANTA Sports accelerated 2.05 percent, China Life Insurance lost 0.44 percent, China Mengniu Dairy retreated 1,42 percent, China Petroleum and Chemical (Sinopec) rallied 1.06 percent, China Resources Land surrendered 2.04 percent, CITIC climbed 1.39 percent, CNOOC sank 0.83 percent, Country Garden tanked 2.84 percent, CSPC Pharmaceutical advanced 0.74 percent, Galaxy Entertainment gained 0.60 percent, Hang Lung Properties was up 0.11 percent, Henderson Land plunged 2.90 percent, Hong Kong & China Gas shed 0.50 percent, Industrial and Commercial Bank of China skidded 0.93 percent, Li Ning surged 3.95 percent, Longfor declined 1.86 percent, Meituan soared 3.25 percent, New World Development collected 0.15 percent, Sands China tumbled 2.71 percent, Sun Hung Kai Properties added 0.68 percent, Techtronic Industries eased 0.06 percent, Xiaomi Corporation jumped 1.47 percent and WuXi Biologics plummeted 4.90 percent.

The lead from Wall Street is inconsistent as the NASDAQ and S&P 500 both opened higher and stayed that way to hit fresh record closing highs, while the Dow opened lower and remained in the red throughout the session.

The Dow shed 33.35 points or 0.09 percent to finish at 36,124.23, while the NASDAQ jumped 128.72 points or 0.81 percent to close at 15.940.31 and the S&P added 19.49 points or 0.42 percent to end at 4,680.06.

Another batch of earnings news was a driving factor as strong results from chipmaker Qualcomm (QCOM) helped to send the NASDAQ higher, while losses by Dow Inc. (DOW), Goldman Sachs (GS) and Travelers (TRV) contributed to the modest pullback by the Dow.

Traders also continued to react positively to the Federal Reserve’s latest monetary policy announcement, with the central bank announcing plans to scale back its asset purchases but signaling it won’t be in a hurry to begin raising interest rates.

In economic news, the Labor Department noted a modest decrease in first-time claims for U.S. unemployment benefits last week. Also, the Commerce Department said the U.S. trade deficit widened much more than expected in September.

Crude oil prices tumbled and settled at their lowest level in nearly a month on Thursday after OPEC decided to stick with its plan to raise oil output modestly and gradually. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for December ended lower by $2.05 or 2.5 percent at $78.81 a barrel.