The Hong Kong stock market on Wednesday halted the three-day slide in which it had tumbled more than 620 points or 2.2 percent. The Hang Seng Index now sits just above the 28,230-point plateau although it’s expected to head south again on Thursday.
The global forecast for the Asian markets suggests consolidation on rising inflation and concerns over the outlook for interest rates. The European markets were up and the U.S. bourses were sharply lower and the Asian markets are tipped to open in the red.
The Hang Seng finished modestly higher on Wednesday as gains from the oil and technology stocks were capped by weakness from the casinos and a mixed picture from the properties.
For the day, the index jumped 217.23 points or 0.78 percent to finish at the daily high of 28,231.04 after trading as low as 27,897.47.
Among the actives, AAC Technologies perked 0.49 percent, while AIA Group skidded 1.06 percent, Alibaba Group surged 6.07 percent, Alibaba Health Info plunged 2.40 percent, ANTA Sports accelerated 2.19 percent, China Life Insurance declined 0.76 percent, China Mengniu Dairy shed 0.36 percent, China Petroleum and Chemical (Sinopec) climbed 0.97 percent, China Resources Land tumbled 1.21 percent, CITIC tanked 2.35 percent, CNOOC advanced 0.34 percent, CSPC Pharmaceutical jumped 1.22 percent, Galaxy Entertainment sank 0.61 percent, Hang Lung Properties gathered 0.62 percent, Henderson Land fell 0.14 percent, Industrial and Commercial Bank of China dropped 0.40 percent, Longfor plummeted 3.48 percent, Meituan spiked 2.49 percent, New World Development added 0.24 percent, Sands China lost 0.29 percent, Sun Hung Kai Properties retreated 1.02 percent, Techtronic Industries rallied 1.50 percent, Xiaomi Corporation skyrocketed 6.10 percent, WuXi Biologics soared 2.90 percent and Hong Kong & China Gas was unchanged.
The lead from Wall Street is broadly negative as stocks opened in the red on Wednesday and the losses only accelerated as the day progressed.
The Dow plunged 681.50 points or 1.99 percent to finish at 33,587.66, while the NASDAQ tumbled 357.75 points or 2.67 percent to end at 13,031.68 and the S&P 500 sank 89.06 points or 2.14 percent to close at 4,063.04.
The sell-off on Wall Street came amid concerns about the accelerating pace of inflation after the Labor Department said consumer prices rose much more than expected in April.
The significantly faster price growth raised concerns about the outlook for monetary policy even though the Federal Reserve has repeatedly downplayed the risks of inflation.
Crude oil prices moved higher on Wednesday on optimism about the outlook for energy demand and data showing a drop in crude stockpiles last week. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for June ended up by $0.80 or 1.2 percent at $66.08 a barrel.
Market Analysis
Renewed Selling Pressure Anticipated For Hong Kong Shares
2021-05-13 00:30:13
