Higher Open Anticipated For Hong Kong Shares

The Hong Kong stock market has closed lower in two straight sessions, slumping almost 400 points or 2.3 percent along the way. The Hang Seng Index now rests just beneath the 17,570-point plateau although it may find support on Thursday.

The global forecast for the Asian markets is rudderless amidst a lack of catalysts. The European and U.S. markets were mixed and little changed and the Asian bourses figure to follow suit.

The Hang Seng finished modestly lower on Wednesday following losses from the financials and oil companies, while the properties and technology shares were mixed.

For the day, the index sank 101.70 points or 0.58 percent to finish at 17,568.46 after trading between 17,537.20 and 17,753.59.

Among the actives, Alibaba Group stumbled 0.78 percent, while Alibaba Health Info climbed 0.82 percent, ANTA Sports jumped 1.10 percent, China Life Insurance tanked2.38 percent, China Mengniu Dairy advanced 0.78 percent, China Resources Land added 0.68 percent, CITIC rose 0.15 percent, CNOOC plunged 2.50 percent, Country Garden skyrocketed 8.85 percent, CSPC Pharmaceutical rallied 1.01 percent, Galaxy Entertainment and Haier Smart Home both lost 0.22 percent, Hang Lung Properties skidded 0.57 percent, Henderson Land slumped 0.71 percent, Hong Kong & China Gas tumbled 1.27 percent, Industrial and Commercial Bank of China dropped 0.54 percent, JD.com declined 0.86 percent, Lenovo plummeted 3.87 percent, Li Ning shed 0.38 percent, Meituan sank 0.43 percent, New World Development perked 0.13 percent, Techtronic Industries retreated 1.07 percent, Xiaomi Corporation soared 2.02 percent and WuXi Biologics surged 3.76 percent.

The lead from Wall Street offers little clarity as the major averages opened higher, quickly dipped into the red and finished mixed and little changed.

The Dow shed 40.33 points or 0.12 percent to finish at 34,112.27, while the NASDAQ rose 10.56 points or 0.08 percent to close at 13,650.41 and the S&P 500 perked 4.40 points or 0.10 percent to end at 4,382.78.

The lackluster performance on Wall Street came as traders seemed reluctant to make significant moves following recent strength in the markets.

Amid the focus on the outlook for interest rates, traders kept a close eye on remarks by Fed Chair Jerome Powell – but he refrained from specifically addressing monetary policy, focusing instead on praise for the work done by the Fed’s Division of Research and Statistics.

Traders also shrugged off results of the Treasury Department’s auction of $40 billion worth of ten-year notes, which attracted average demand.

Crude oil prices fell sharply on Wednesday amid concerns about the outlook for demand and a jump in U.S. crude oil inventories. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for December lost $2.04 or about 2.6 percent at $75.33 a barrel.