Consolidation Called For Hong Kong Stock Market

(RTTNews) - Ahead of Tuesday's holiday for National Day, the Hong Kong stock market had climbed higher in five straight sessions, surging more than 2,900 points or 14.8 percent along the way. The Hang Seng Index now sits just above the 21,130-point plateau although it's overdue for profit taking on Wednesday.

The global forecast for the Asian markets is soft on rising geopolitical tensions in the Middle East. The European markets were mixed and the U.S. bourses were down and the Asian markets figure to follow the latter lead.

The Hang Seng finished sharply higher again on Monday following gains from the technology stocks and entertainment companies, while the property sector was mixed.

For the day, the index surged 501.38 points or 2.43 percent to finish at 21,133.68 after trading between 20,789.93 and 21,488.75.

Among the actives, Alibaba Group spiked 7.32 percent, while Alibaba Health Info skyrocketed 29.85 percent, ANTA Sports advanced 3.45 percent, China Life Insurance jumped 6.26 percent, China Mengniu Dairy gathered 1.30 percent, China Resources Land increased 2.69 percent, CITIC rose 2.46 percent, CNOOC climbed 4.52 percent, CSPC Pharmaceutical rallied 7.08 percent, Galaxy Entertainment improved 3.31 percent, Haier Smart Home added 2.97 percent, Hang Lung Properties surged 12.29 percent, Henderson Land plummeted 3.50 percent, Hong Kong & China Gas tanked 3.03 percent, Industrial and Commercial Bank of China declined 1.49 percent, JD.com soared 9.93 percent, Lenovo tumbled 2.93 percent, Li Auto spiked 8.37 percent, Li Ning jumped 5.57 percent, Meituan strengthened 4.50 percent, New World Development plunged 3.11 percent, Nongfu Spring rallied 5.88 percent, Techtronic Industries retreated 2.32 percent, Xiaomi Corporation gained 2.51 percent and WuXi Biologics surged 9.51 percent.

The lead from Wall Street is negative as the major averages opened lower on Tuesday and remained in the red throughout the session.

The Dow dropped 173.18 points or 0.41 percent to finish at 42,156.97, while the NASDAQ plummeted 278.81 points or 1.53 percent to close at 17,910.36 and the S&P sank 53.73 points or 0.93 percent to end at 5,708.75.

The weakness on Wall Street came on rising tensions in the Middle East after Iran launched a ballistic missile attack against Israel. Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps said the attack was in response to the killing of Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah and others in recent Israeli airstrikes.

A senior White House official said earlier in the day that the U.S. had indications Iran was preparing to imminently launch a ballistic missile attack against Israel, contributing to the early sell-off by stocks.

The news from the Middle East largely overshadowed separate report showing a continued contraction by U.S. manufacturing activity in September and an unexpected increase by U.S. job openings in August.

Oil prices moved higher on Tuesday amid the possibility of tight supplies due to an escalation in tensions in the Middle East after Iran launched a missile attack on Israel. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for November closed up $1.66 or nearly 2.5 percent at $69.83 a barrel.