Soft Start Predicted For Hong Kong Stock Market

(RTTNews) - The Hong Kong stock market on Wednesday ended the two-day slide in which it had tumbled almost 550 points or 3 percent. The Hang Seng Index now rests just beneath the 17,740-point plateau although it's likely to turn lower again on Thursday.

The global forecast for the Asian markets suggests consolidation, especially among the technology and semiconductor companies. The European and U.S. markets were mostly lower and the Asian bourses also figure to follow suit.

The Hang Seng finished slightly higher on Wednesday following gains from the property stocks and technology companies.

For the day, the index added 11.43 points or 0.06 percent to finish at 17,739.41 after trading between 17,658.68 and 17,807.68.

Among the actives, Alibaba Group rose 1.06 percent, while Alibaba Health Info skyrocketed 8.57 percent, ANTA Sports advanced 1.43 percent, China Life Insurance rallied 2.58 percent, China Mengniu Dairy soared 5.42 percent, China Resources Land was up 0.38 percent, CITIC gathered 0.69 percent, CNOOC plummeted 5.16 percent, Country Garden gained 1.20 percent, CSPC Pharmaceutical perked 0.67 percent, Galaxy Entertainment and Hang Lung Properties both collected 0.73 percent, Henderson Land jumped 2.45 percent, Hong Kong & China Gas strengthened 2.23 percent, Industrial and Commercial Bank of China lost 0.23 percent, JD.com improved 2.11 percent, Lenovo tumbled 1.12 percent, Li Ning surged 6.03 percent, Meituan added 1.36 percent, New World Development increased 2.10 percent, Techtronic Industries accelerated 4.77 percent, Xiaomi Corporation spiked 2.69 percent and WuXi Biologics climbed 2.17 percent.

The lead from Wall Street is a study in contrasts as the Dow opened higher and stayed that way, hitting a fresh record high - while the NASDAQ and S&P remained mired in the red.

The Dow soared 243.60 points or 0.59 percent to finish at 41,198.08, while the NASDAQ plummeted 512.42 points or 2.77 percent to close at 17.996.92 and the S&P 500 tumbled 78.93 points or 1.39 percent to end at 5,588.27.

Wall Street was led lower by semiconductor stocks, which plummeted on reports that President Joe Biden's administration is considering tougher trade rules against companies in its chip crackdown on China.

Negative sentiment was also generated after former President Donald Trump suggested Taiwan should pay the U.S. for defense, claiming the country took "about 100 percent" of America's chip business.

In economic news, the Commerce Department noted a significant rebound by new residential construction and building permits in the U.S. in June. A separate report released by the Federal Reserve showed industrial production in the U.S. increased more than expected last month.

Oil prices rose sharply on Wednesday after data showed an unexpected sharp drop in U.S. crude inventories last week, while a weaker dollar also provided support. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for August rallied $2.09 or 2.6 percent at $82.85 a barrel.

Closer to home, Hong Kong will see June figures for unemployment later today; the jobless rate is seen steady at 3.0 percent.