Hang Seng Expected To Open To The Upside On Monday

(RTTNews) - The Hong Kong stock market has moved higher in two straight sessions, advancing nearly 300 points or 1.8 percent along the way. The Hang Seng Index now sits just beneath the 17,990-point plateau and it's likely to see continued strength again on Monday.

The global forecast for the Asian markets is upbeat on optimism over the outlook for interest rates. The European markets finished slightly lower and the U.S. bourses were up and the Asian markets are tipped to follow the latter lead.

The Hang Seng finished sharply higher on Friday following gains from the oil, entertainment, property and technology companies.

For the day, the index rallied 202.77 points or 1.14 percent to finish at 17,989.07 after trading between 17,778.10 and 18,202.60.

Among the actives, Alibaba Group climbed 3.04 percent, while Alibaba Health Info strengthened 3.08 percent, ANTA Sports was up 0.66 percent, China Life Insurance surged 5.54 percent, China Mengniu Dairy perked 0.76 percent, China Resources Land accelerated 4.24 percent, CITIC dipped 0.13 percent, CNOOC added 1.65 percent, CSPC Pharmaceutical lost 0.21 percent, Galaxy Entertainment gathered 1.00 percent, Hang Lung Properties gained 1.36 percent, Henderson Land sank 0.61 percent, Hong Kong & China Gas rose 1.28 percent, Industrial and Commercial Bank of China tumbled 2.81 percent, JD.com rallied 3.57 percent, Lenovo collected 1.27 percent, Li Auto skyrocketed 7.79 percent, Li Ning improved 2.52 percent, Meituan increased 2.16 percent, New World Development advanced 1.82 percent, Techtronic Industries dropped 0.47 percent, Xiaomi Corporation jumped 3.28 percent and WuXi Biologics soared 4.28 percent.

The lead from Wall Street is solid as the major averages opened higher on Friday, faded midday but rallied going into the close.

The Dow climbed 228.03 points or 0.55 percent to finish at a fresh record 41,563.08, while the NASDAQ spiked 197.20 points or 1.13 percent to end at 17,713.62 and the S&P 500 gained 56.44 points or 1.01 percent to close at 5,648.40. For the week, the NASDAQ shed 0.9 percent, the Dow added 0.9 percent and the S&P rose 0.2 percent.

The higher close on Wall Street followed the Commerce Department report on U.S. consumer price inflation that is said to be preferred by the Federal Reserve. The report showed consumer prices increased in line with estimates in July, while the annual rate of price growth was unexpectedly flat.

While the data has reinforced expectations of an interest rate cut by the Fed this month, traders expressed uncertainty about the pace of rate cuts, leading to some volatility in the markets.

According to CME Group's FedWatch Tool, there is a 69.5 percent chance of a quarter-point rate cut next month and a 30.5 percent chance of a half-point rate cut.

Crude oil showed a significant move to the downside on Friday on reports that OPEC is set to proceed with a planned oil output hike from October. West Texas Intermediate crude for October delivery plunged $2.36 or 3.1 percent to $73.55 a barrel.