The Hong Kong stock market turned lower again on Thursday, one session after ending the two-day slide in which it had plummeted more than 720 points or 3 percent. The Hang Seng Index now sits just above the 23,800-point plateau and it’s expected to open in the red again on Friday.
The global forecast for the Asian markets is volatile, with weakness from oil and technology stocks likely to limit any upside. The European markets were up and the U.S. bourses were down and the Asian markets figure to at least open lower.
The Hang Seng finished sharply lower on Thursday, led to the downside by the technology and property stocks.
For the day, the index plummeted 482.90 points or 1.99 percent to finish at 23,807.00 after trading between 23,565.00 and 23,952.01.
Among the actives, AAC Technologies tumbled 5.45 percent, while AIA Group sank 1.81 percent, Alibaba Group plummeted 7.19 percent, Alibaba Health Info declined 4.31 percent, ANTA Sports skidded 3.06 percent, China Life Insurance shed 1.30 percent, China Mengniu Dairy was up 0.11 percent, China Resources Land slumped 2.39 percent, CITIC climbed 0.69 percent, CNOOC fell 1.06 percent, Country Garden weakened 2.86 percent, CSPC Pharmaceutical added 0.33 percent, Galaxy Entertainment rose 0.22 percent, Hang Lung Properties dropped 1.55 percent, Henderson Land lost 1.14 percent, Industrial and Commercial Bank of China eased 0.21 percent, JD.com retreated 3.51 percent, Li Ning surrendered 5.02 percent, Longfor slid 0.66 percent, Meituan plunged 6.93 percent, New World Development was down 0.63 percent, Techtronic Industries gained 0.31 percent, Xiaomi Corporation tanked 5.50 percent, WuXi Biologics stumbled 3.14 percent and China Petroleum and Chemical (Sinopec) and Hong Kong & China Gas were unchanged.
The lead from Wall Street is negative as the major averages opened higher on Thursday but watched those gains evaporate as the markets slid into the red as the day progressed.
The Dow dipped 7.31 points or 0.02 percent to finish at 34,160.78, while the NASDAQ plummeted 189.34 points or 1.40 percent to close at 13,352.78 and the S&P 500 lost 23.42 points or 0.54 percent to end at 4,326.51.
Stocks continued to experience intense volatility as traders weighed upbeat fourth quarter GDP against the prospect of higher interest rates.
The markets initially showed a positive reaction to a Commerce Department report showing stronger than expected GDP growth in the fourth quarter of 2021. However, traders have recently shown a reluctance to maintain any meaningful moves, resulting in another rollercoaster ride.
In other economic news, the Labor Department said initial jobless claims pulled back last week, while the Commerce Department and the National Association of Realtors noted steeper than expected drops in durable goods orders and pending home sales in December.
Crude oil prices retreated Thursday as the dollar climbed after the Fed signaled that it would start raising interest rates in March. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for March ended lower by $0.74 or 0.9 percent at $86.61 a barrel.
Closer to home, Hong Kong will release an advance estimate for Q4 gross domestic product later today. GDP is expected to rise 0.8 percent on quarter and 4.7 percent on year after adding 0.1 percent on quarter and 5.0 percent on year in the previous three months.
Market Analysis
Additional Selling Pressure Likely For Hong Kong Stock Market
2022-01-28 01:00:12