Hong Kong Stock Market Expected To Open Under Pressure

The Hong Kong stock market rebounded on Thursday, one day after halting the three-day winning streak in which it had gained more than 340 points or 1.2 percent. The Hang Seng Index now sits just above the 29,750-point plateau although it’s looking at a soft start again on Friday.

The global forecast for the Asian markets is soft on concerns over tax rates in the United States. The European markets were up and the U.S. bourses were down and the Asian markets figure to follow the latter lead.

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

For the day, the index advanced 133.42 points or 0.47 percent to finish at 28,755.34 after trading between 28,597.00 and 28,848.02.

Among the actives, AAC Technologies plummeted 1.76 percent, while AIA Group perked 0.89 percent, Alibaba Group fell 0.18 percent, Alibaba Health Info added 0.44 percent, ANTA Sports soared 3.27 percent, China Life Insurance jumped 1.16 percent, China Mengniu Dairy gained 0.35 percent, China Resources Land climbed 1.08 percent, CITIC rose 0.26 percent, CNOOC dropped 0.49 percent, CSPC Pharmaceutical gathered 0.95 percent, Galaxy Entertainment advanced 0.81 percent, Hang Lung Properties rallied 1.86 percent, Henderson Land sank 0.71 percent, Hong Kong & China Gas skidded 0.96 percent, Industrial and Commercial Bank of China and Wharf Real Estate tumbled 1.11 percent, Longfor plunged 1.68 percent, Meituan surged 3.47 percent, Sands China was up 0.13 percent, Sun Hung Kai Properties shed 0.25 percent, Techtronic Industries accelerated 2.30 percent, WuXi Biologics spiked 2.42 percent and China Petroleum and Chemical (Sinopec), New World Development and Xiaomi Corporation were unchanged.

The lead from Wall Street is broadly negative as the major averages showed little movement early on Thursday but headed due south in the afternoon to finish firmly in the red.

The Dow tumbled 321.41 points or 0.94 percent to finish at 33,815.90, while the NASDAQ skidded 131.81 points or 0.94 percent to end at 13,818.41 and the S&P 500 sank 38.44 points or 0.92 percent to close at 4,134.98.

The afternoon sell-off came following reports that President Joe Biden plans to propose nearly doubling the capital gains tax rate for wealthy individuals to fund spending on childcare and education.

Earlier in the day, traders saw a Labor Department report unexpectedly show a continued decline in initial jobless claims last week. Also, the National Association of Realtors noted another steep drop in U.S. existing home sales in March.

Crude oil futures rebounded from early losses to settle slightly higher on Thursday, gaining for the first time in three sessions as worries about the energy demand outlook weighed on oil prices early in the day. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for June ended up by $0.08 or 0.1 percent at $61.43 a barrel.

Closer to home, Hong Kong will see Q2 results for its business confidence index and March figures for consumer prices later today. In Q1, the business confidence index score was -17, while inflation was up 0.3 percent on year in February.