Hong Kong Stock Market May Open Under Pressure On Wednesday

The Hong Kong stock market has moved higher in two straight sessions, advancing more than 210 points or 1 percent along the way. The Hang Seng Index now sits just above the 20,485-point plateau although the rally may stall on Wednesday.

The global forecast for the Asian markets is cloudy and fairly flat amidst a lack of catalysts. The European markets were up and the U.S. bourses were mixed and the Asian markets figure to split the difference.

The Hang Seng finished modestly higher on Tuesday following gains from the properties and oil companies, while the technology stocks were mixed.

For the day, the index improved 154.04 points or 0.76 percent to finish at 20,485.24 after trading between 20,293.37 and 20,750.73.

Among the actives, Alibaba Group jumped 1.59 percent, while Alibaba Health Info soared 3.27 percent, ANTA Sports accelerated 2.17 percent, China Life Insurance strengthened 1.24 percent, China Mengniu Dairy lost 0.30 percent, China Resources Land surged 5.71 percent, CITIC spiked 2.64 percent, CNOOC gained 0.49 percent, Country Garden skyrocketed 11.53 percent, CSPC Pharmaceutical rallied 1.56 percent, Galaxy Entertainment and Henderson Land both added 0.55 percent, Hang Lung Properties advanced 0.68 percent, Hong Kong & China Gas improved 0.59 percent, Industrial and Commercial Bank of China collected 0.96 percent, JD.com fell 0.25 percent, Lenovo tumbled 2.12 percent, Li Ning rose 0.43 percent, Meituan and Techtronic Industries both climbed 1.20 percent, New World Development soared 3.60 percent, Xiaomi Corporation spiked 1.66 percent and WuXi Biologics surged 5.60 percent.

The lead from Wall Street continues to be mixed as the Dow opened higher and stayed that way, the NASDAQ opened lower and stayed that way and the S&P 500 hugged the line all day and finished barely in the red.

The Dow added 98.27 points or 0.29 percent to finish at 33,684.79, while the NASDAQ shed 52.48 points or 0.43 percent to close at 12,031.88 and the S&P 500 eased 0.17 points or 0.00 percent to end at 4,108.94.

A lack of major U.S. economic data kept some traders on the sidelines ahead of the release of several key reports in the coming days.

The Labor Department’s report on consumer price inflation in the month of March is due to be released later today and could have a significant impact on the outlook for interest rates.

Crude oil prices surged Tuesday on optimism for additional Chinese economic stimulus after soft inflation data from China created room for its central bank to potentially ease its monetary policy. West Texas Intermediate crude for May delivery surged $1.79 to $81.53 a barrel.