Lower Open Anticipated For Hong Kong Stock Market

(RTTNews) - The Hong Kong stock market on Tuesday ended the three-day winning streak in which it had advanced more than 600 points or 3 percent. The Hang Seng Index now sits just beneath the 19,870-point plateau and it's expected to open under pressure again on Wednesday.

The global forecast for the Asian markets suggests mild consolidation ahead of key inflation data later in the day. The European markets were mixed and the U.S. bourses were slightly lower and the Asian markets figure to open in similar fashion.

The Hang Seng finished sharply lower on Tuesday with damage across the board, especially among the financials, properties, oil companies and technology stocks.

For the day, the index plummeted 429.45 points or 2.12 percent to finish at 19,867.58 after trading between 19,817.78 and 20,297.83.

Among the actives, Alibaba Group stumbled 3.05 percent, while Alibaba Health Info plummeted 5.47 percent, ANTA Sports tanked 4.42 percent, China Life Insurance dipped 1.27 percent, China Mengniu Dairy slumped2.83 percent, China Resources Land, CITIC lost 1.70 percent, CNOOC dove 0.92 percent, Country Garden fell 1.68 percent, CSPC Pharmaceutical retreated 3.36 percent, Galaxy Entertainment tumbled 3.76 percent, Hang Lung Properties declined 3.70 percent, Henderson Land skidded 2.43 percent, Hong Kong & China Gas surged 6.25 percent, Industrial and Commercial Bank of China slid 1.28 percent, JD.com dropped 2.15 percent, Lenovo was down 1.13 percent, Li Ning surrendered 3.92 percent, Meituan weakened 2.91 percent, New World Development eased 0.24 percent, Techtronic Industries sank 1.82 percent, Xiaomi Corporation shed 1.74 percent and WuXi Biologics plunged 4.96 percent.

The lead from Wall Street is soft as the major averages opened lower on Tuesday and spent most of the session in the red, finishing with modest losses.

The Dow shed 56.88 points or 0.17 percent to finish at 33,561.81, while the NASDAQ dropped 77.37 points or 0.63 percent to close at 12,179.55 and the S&P 500 sank 18.95 points or 0.46 percent to end at 4,119.17.

The weakness on Wall Street came as traders continued to move money out of relatively risky assets like stocks ahead of the release of key inflation data later today.

The reports on consumer and producer price inflation, which are due to be released on Wednesday and Thursday, respectively, could have a significant impact on the outlook for interest rates.

The weakness on Wall Street may also have reflected concerns about the debt ceiling ahead of a meeting between President Joe Biden and House Speaker Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif. that could result in default if not addressed.

Crude oil prices shook off early weakness to finish higher amid expectations of higher seasonal demand and on the U.S. government's plans to refill the emergency oil reserve. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for June settled at $73.71 a barrel, gaining $0.55 or 0.8 percent.