Lower Open Predicted For Hong Kong Stock Market

The Hong Kong stock market rebounded on Wednesday, one session after ending the four-day winning streak in which it had soared more than 410 points or 1.9 percent. The Hang Seng Index now sits just beneath the 21,680-point plateau although it’s expected to open in the red again on Thursday,

The global forecast for the Asian markets is soft on renewed concerns over the outlook for interest rates and recession fears. The European markets were mixed and little changed and the U.S. bourses were sharply lower and the Asian markets are tipped to follow the latter lead.

The Hang Seng finished modestly higher on Wednesday following mixed performances from the technology stocks and the properties.

For the day, the index advanced 100.36 points or 0.47 percent to finish at 21,678.00 after trading between 21,422.19 and 21,691.67.

Among the actives, Alibaba Group shed 0.35 percent, while Alibaba Health Info sank 0.68 percent, ANTA Sports rallied 2.19 percent, China Life Insurance jumped 1.80 percent, China Mengniu Dairy retreated 0.81 percent, China Resources Land fell 0.13 percent, CITIC added 0.45 percent, CNOOC spiked 3.24 percent, Country Garden plummeted 5,51 percent, CSPC Pharmaceutical slumped 0.77 percent, Galaxy Entertainment soared 3.68 percent, Hang Lung Properties rose 0.13 percent, Henderson Land climbed 1.04 percent, Hong Kong & China Gas advanced 0.66 percent, Industrial and Commercial Bank of China collected 0.95 percent, JD.com tumbled 1.75 percent, Li Ning lost 0.21 percent, Meituan dropped 0.73 percent, New World Development declined 1.31 percent, Techtronic Industries surged 4.98 percent, Xiaomi Corporation strengthened 1.54 percent, WuXi Biologics eased 0.07 percent and Lenovo was unchanged.

The lead from Wall Street is broadly negative as the major averages were unable to hold early support on Wednesday, quickly heading south and finishing near daily lows.

The Dow plummeted 613,89 points or 1.81 percent to finish at 33,296.96, while the NASDAQ tumbled 138.10 points or 1.24 percent to close at 10,957.01 and the S&P 500 sank 62.11 points or 1.56 percent to end at 3,928.86.

The weakness that emerged on Wall Street came after St. Louis Fed President James Bullard commented that the central bank needs to quickly hike interest rates above 5 percent, shelving much of the recent optimism over interest rates.

Disappointing economic data also weighed as the Commerce Department reported a steep drop in U.S. retail sales in December. A separate report from the Federal Reserve showed industrial production in the U.S. fell by much more than expected in December.

As a result of the data, treasuries showed a substantial move to the upside, further stoking fears for the outlook of interest rates.

Crude oil futures settled lower on Wednesday amid concerns about a possible U.S. recession. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for February ended lower by $0.70 or 0.9 percent at $79.48 a barrel.

Closer to home, Hong Kong will see December unemployment figures later today; in November, the jobless rate was 3.7 percent.

Market Analysis