Losses May Accelerate For Hong Kong Stock Market

(RTTNews) - The Hong Kong stock market has moved lower in two of three trading days since the end of the two-day winning streak in which it had gathered almost 210 points or 1.1 percent. The Hang Seng Index now sits just above the 19,350-point plateau and it's likely to open in the red again on Tuesday. The global forecast for the Asian markets is mixed to lower on concerns over the health of the global economy and the outlook for interest rates. The European markets were up and the U.S. bourses were down and the Asian markets figure to follow the latter lead.

The Hang Seng finished modestly lower on Monday following losses from the property stocks and technology shares. For the day, the index sank 97.86 points or 0.50 percent to finish at 19,352.81 after trading between 19,255.95 and 19,786.29. Among the actives, Alibaba Group added 0.69 percent, while Alibaba Health Info plummeted 8.20 percent, ANTA Sports fell 0.66 percent, China Life Insurance weakened 1.47 percent, China Mengniu Dairy rose 0.29 percent, China Petroleum and Chemical (Sinopec) dropped 1.07 percent, China Resources Land was down 0.42 percent, CITIC shed 1.00 percent, CNOOC slipped 0.50 percent, Country Garden gained 0.45 percent, CSPC Pharmaceutical tanked 4.07 percent, Galaxy Entertainment plunged 4.48 percent, Hang Lung Properties climbed 1.34 percent, Henderson Land skidded 1.12 percent, Hong Kong & China Gas slumped 1.48 percent, Industrial and Commercial Bank of China sank 1.04 percent, JD.com eased 0.36 percent, Lenovo declined 2.17 percent, Li Ning slid 0.64 percent, Longfor lost 0.78 percent, Meituan jumped 1.65 percent, New World Development dipped 0.45 percent, Techtronic Industries surrendered 3.13 percent, Xiaomi Corporation stumbled 1.82 percent and WuXi Biologics retreated 2.14 percent. The lead from Wall Street is negative as the major averages fluctuated early Monday but then headed well into the red and finished under pressure.

The Dow dropped 162.92 points or 0.49 percent to finish at 32,757.54, while the NASDAQ retreated 159.38 points or 1.49 percent to close at 10,546.03 and the S&P 500 slumped 34.70 points or 0.90 percent to end at 3,817.66.

The extended weakness on Wall Street came as traders continue to express concerns about the outlook for the economy. The Federal Reserve said it will continue raising interest rates next year, leading to worries the aggressive policy tightening will tip the economy into a recession.

In U.S. economic news, the National Association of Home Builders reported that homebuilder confidence in the U.S. unexpectedly saw a continued deterioration in December.

Crude oil prices climbed higher on Monday amid optimism about increased demand for oil from China after the country relaxed certain COVID-related restrictions. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for January ended higher by $0.91 or 1.25 percent at $75.20 a barrel.