Losing Streak May Continue For Hong Kong Shares

(RTTNews) - The Hong Kong stock market has finished lower in back-to-back sessions, sinking almost 270 points or 1.3 percent along the way. The Hang Seng now rests just above the 19,500-point plateau and it's looking at another soft start again on Wednesday. The global forecast for the Asian markets remains soft on concerns over an economic slowdown and the outlook for interest rates. The European and U.S. markets were down and the Asian bourses are tipped to open in similar fashion.

The Hang Seng finished modestly lower on Tuesday following losses from the technology stocks, financial shares and properties.

For the day, the index lost 153.73 points or 0.78 percent to finish at 19,503.25 after trading between 19,377.09 and 19,701.55. Among the actives, Alibaba Group eased 0.11 percent, while Alibaba Health Info dipped 0.45 percent, ANTA Sports surged 4.01 percent, China Life Insurance sank 1.25 percent, China Mengniu Dairy tanked 2.54 percent, China Petroleum and Chemical (Sinopec) was down 0.27 percent, China Resources Land slipped 0.80 percent, CITIC tumbled 2.39 percent, CNOOC spiked 3.36 percent, Country Garden retreated 1.63 percent, CSPC Pharmaceutical lost 1.11 percent, ENN Energy soared 3.48 percent, Galaxy Entertainment plunged 2.74 percent, Hang Lung Properties slumped 1.49 percent, Henderson Land stumbled 1.62 percent, Hong Kong & China Gas dropped 1.35 percent, Industrial and Commercial Bank of China fell 0.99 percent, JD.com jumped 1.19 percent, Lenovo weakened 1.43 percent, Li Ning shed 1.20 percent, Longfor added 0.20 percent, Meituan skidded 1.40 percent, New World Development and Hengan International both declined 2.08 percent, Techtronic Industries plummeted 4.32 percent, Xiaomi Corporation slid 0.89 percent and WuXi Biologics surrendered 2.36 percent.

The lead from Wall Street suggests mild consolidation again on Wednesday as the major averages shook off early support and finished slightly lower.

The Dow dropped 154.02 points or 0.47 percent to finish at 32,909.59, while the NASDAQ eased 0.27 points or 0.00 percent to close at 12,381.30 and the S&P 500 dipped 9.26 points or 0.22 percent to end at 4,128.73.

The weakness that emerged on Wall Street came as traders were cautious ahead of Fed Chair Jerome Powell's speech at the central bank's annual Jackson Hole economic symposium later this week, which may provide clues about the bank's outlook for the economy and interest rates.

In economic news, Markit Economics said its manufacturing PMI slowed in August, while the services and composite PMIs contracted at an accelerated rate. Also, the Commerce Department said new home sales slumped in July to their lowest reading since January 2016.

Crude oil prices rose sharply on Tuesday with traders weighing the prospects of OPEC and allies cutting output to support prices in the event of Iranian crude entering the market. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for September jumped $3.38 or 3.7 percent at $93.74 a barrel.