Lower Open Called For Hong Kong Stock Market

(RTTNews) - Ahead of Friday's unplanned day off because of a typhoon, the Hong Kong stock market had moved lower in four straight sessions, slumping more than 550 points or 3.2 percent in that span. The Hang Seng Index now sits just beneath the 17,450-point plateau and it may open under pressure again on Monday.

The global forecast for the Asian markets is negative on concerns over the health of the world's economy. The European and U.S. markets were firmly lower and the Asian bourses are tipped to open in similar fashion.

The Hang Seng finished slightly lower on Thursday as losses from the technology and financial shares were mitigated by strong support from the property sector.

For the day, the index dipped 13.04 points or 0.07 percent to finish at 17,444.30 after trading between 17,332.49 and 17,555.61.

Among the actives, Alibaba Group shed 0.37 percent, while Alibaba Health Info and China Life Insurance both jumped 1.05 percent, ANTA Sports added 0.67 percent, China Mengniu Dairy advanced 0.78 percent, China Resources Land spiked 1.69 percent, CITIC slumped 0.67 percent, CNOOC lost 0.30 percent, CSPC Pharmaceutical tanked 1.65 percent, Galaxy Entertainment plunged 1.85 percent, Haier Smart Home rallied 1.46 percent, Hang Lung Properties and WuXi Biologics both fell 0.18 percent, Henderson Land surged 2.36 percent, Hong Kong & China Gas climbed 0.81 percent, Industrial and Commercial Bank of China declined 0.94 percent, JD.com tumbled 1.42 percent, Lenovo sank 0.43 percent, Li Auto retreated 1.28 percent, Li Ning gained 0.42 percent, Meituan perked 0.08 percent, New World Development soared 2.12 percent, Nongfu Spring plummeted 2.03 percent, Xiaomi Corporation dropped 0.64 percent and Techtronic Industries were unchanged.

The lead from Wall Street is weak as the major averages opened mixed but quickly turned lower and spent the rest of the day under water, finishing with heavy losses.

The Dow stumbled 410.39 points or 1.01 percent to finish at 40,345.41, while the NASDAQ plunged 436.87 points or 2.55 percent to close at 16,690.83 and the S&P 500 sank 94.99 points or 1.73 percent to end at 5,408.42.

For the week, the NASDAQ plummeted 5.8 percent, the Dow tanked 2.9 percent and the S&P tumbled 4.3 percent.

The sell-off on Wall Street came amid concerns about the outlook for the U.S. economy after the Labor Department released a closely watched report showing employment rose by less than expected in the month of August.

While the data is seen as increasing the chances of a 50-basis point interest rate cut by the Federal Reserve later this month, traders seemed worried the central bank may have waited too long to prevent the economy from slipping into a recession.

Oil prices fell to an 18-month low on Friday, weighed down persisting concerns about the outlook for oil demand following the disappointing jobs report. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for October ended down by $1.48 or 2.1 percent at $67.67 a barrel.