Lower Open Predicted For Hong Kong Stock Market

The Hong Kong stock market has moved lower in three consecutive trading days, tumbling more than 1,250 points or 5 percent along the way. The Hang Seng Index now rests just above the 23,520point plateau and it’s looking at another rough start for Wednesday’s trade.

The global forecast for the Asian markets is negative on geopolitical concerns over escalation of conflict between Russia and Ukraine. The European and U.S. markets were down and the Asian markets are tipped to follow a similar path.

The Hang Seng finished sharply lower on Tuesday following losses from the financials, properties and technology companies.

For the day, the index plummeted 650.07 points or 2.69 percent to finish at 23,520.00 after trading between 23,336.78 and 23,813.64.

Among the actives, AAC Technologies dropped 2.69 percent, while AIA Group surrendered 3.85 percent, Alibaba Group slumped 3.05 percent, Alibaba Health Info tanked 4.77 percent, ANTA Sports skidded 3.23 percent, China Life Insurance and Industrial and Commercial Bank of China both slid 1.45 percent, China Mengniu Dairy lost 1.98 percent, China Petroleum and Chemical (Sinopec) was down 0.49 percent, China Resources Land rose 0.13 percent, CITIC eased 0.44 percent, CNOOC added 0.60 percent, Country Garden weakened 3.07 percent, CSPC Pharmaceutical stumbled 3.21 percent, ENN Energy plummeted 10.94 percent, Galaxy Entertainment declined 3.66 percent, Hang Lung Properties gained 0.37 percent, Henderson Land shed 2.07 percent, Hong Kong & China Gas dipped 0.99 percent, Li Ning tumbled 4.00 percent, Longfor slipped 0.56 percent, Meituan cratered 5.10 percent, New World Development fell 1.69 percent, Techtronic Industries retreated 3.52 percent, Xiaomi Corporation sank 2.98 percent and WuXi Biologics plunged 5.20 percent.

The lead from Wall Street suggests consolidation as the major averages opened slightly lower on Tuesday but saw losses accelerate as the day progressed, ending firmly in the red.

The Dow plunged 482.57 points or 1.42 percent to finish at 33,596.61, while the NASDAQ tumbled 166.55 points or 1.23 percent to end at 13,381.52 and the S&P 500 dropped 44.11 points or 1.01 percent to close at 4,304.76.

The weakness on Wall Street came after Russian President Vladimir Putin recognized two Ukrainian separatist regions – Donetsk and Luhansk – as sovereign states and sent troops into those territories as “peacekeepers.”

Describing the latest actions by Russia as the beginning of an invasion of Ukraine, U.S. President Joe Biden announced the first tranche of U.S. sanctions on two large Russian financial institutions, VEB and Russia’s military bank, and Russia’s sovereign debt, as well as Russian elites and their family members.

The U.K. also announced a first tranche of sanctions on Russia, targeting five Russian banks and three “very high net worth” individuals.

Oil prices moved up sharply Tuesday on concerns over supplies following Russia’s aggressive move into Ukraine. It is feared that a full-blown conflict in Ukraine could cause major disruption to crude supplies. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for April ended higher by $1.70 or 1.9 percent at $91.91 a barrel.