Higher Open Anticipated For Hong Kong Shares

The Hong Kong stock market has finished higher in two of three trading days since the end of the two-day slide in which it had tumbled more than 620 points or 3.5 percent. The Hang Seng Index now rests just above the 17,730-point plateau and it may see additional strength on Thursday.

The global forecast for the Asian markets is upbeat on continued optimism over the outlook for interest rates. The European markets were mixed and the U.S. bourses were up and the Asian markets figure to split the difference.

The Hang Seng finished barely higher on Wednesday as gains from the properties and financials were offset by weakness from the technology companies.

For the day, the index was up 0.71 points or 0.00 percent to finish at 17,734.60 after trading between 17,650.49 and 17,796.86.

Among the actives, Alibaba Group spiked 1.12 percent, while Alibaba Health Info slumped 0.86 percent, ANTA Sports skidded 0.84 percent, China Life Insurance rose 0.18 percent, China Mengniu Dairy improved 0.40 percent, CITIC stumbled 1.60 percent, CNOOC eased 0.15 percent, Country Garden surged 2.27 percent, CSPC Pharmaceutical lost 0.58 percent, Galaxy Entertainment declined 0.90 percent, Henderson Land rallied 0.90 percent, Hong Kong & China Gas dropped 0.71 percent, Industrial and Commercial Bank of China collected 0.26 percent, JD.com fell 0.54 percent, Lenovo advanced 0.84 percent, Li Ning retreated 1.05 percent, Meituan added 0.81 percent, New World Development gained 0.76 percent, Techtronic Industries sank 0.61 percent, Xiaomi Corporation tumbled 1.69 percent, WuXi Biologics plummeted 2.37 percent and China Resources Land, Hang Lung Properties and Hengan International were unchanged.

The lead from Wall Street is positive as the major averages opened higher on Wednesday and remained in the green throughout the session.

The Dow jumped 184.74 points or 0.53 percent to finish at 35,273.03, while the NASDAQ gained 65.88 points or 0.46 percent to end at 14,265.86 and the S&P 500 rose 18.43 points or 0.41 percent to close at 4,556.62.

The strength on Wall Street came as continued optimism about the outlook for interest rates contributed to renewed buying interest following the previous day’s pullback.

While the minutes of the latest Federal Reserve meeting failed to provide any indications the central bank plans to cut interest rates in the near future, CME Group’s FedWatch Tool suggests the next move will be a rate cut in mid-2024.

In economic news, the Labor Department said first-time claims for unemployment benefits fell more than expected last week. Also, the Commerce Department said new orders for U.S. manufactured durable goods pulled back by much more than expected in October.

Crude oil futures settled lower Wednesday after data showed a notable increase in crude inventory in the U.S., and after OPEC postponed a key meeting by four days. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for January ended down $0.67 or 0.86 percent at $77.10 a barrel.