Hang Seng Expected To Halt Losing Streak

(RTTNews) - The Hong Kong stock market has moved lower in three straight sessions, dropping more than 550 points or 3 percent along the way. The Hang Seng Index now sits just above the 19,150-point plateau although it may find traction on Tuesday.

The global forecast for the Asian markets is upbeat on optimism over the global outlook, although weak oil prices limited the upside. The European and U.S. markets were up and the Asian bourses figure to follow that lead.

The Hang Seng finished modestly lower on Monday, weighed down by losses from the property sector and a mixed picture from the technology stocks.

For the day, the index sank 78.98 points or 0.41 percent to finish at 19,150.99 after trading between 19,102.06 and 19,351.06.

Among the actives, Alibaba Group spiked 1.55 percent, while Alibaba Health Info sank 0.85 percent, ANTA Sports tumbled 1.98 percent, China Life Insurance skidded 1.11 percent, China Mengniu Dairy retreated 1.78 percent, China Resources Land dropped 0.88 percent, CITIC fell 0.23 percent, CNOOC climbed 1.52 percent, CSPC Pharmaceutical and Henderson Land both slid 0.20 percent, Galaxy Entertainment slumped 0.92 percent, Haier Smart Home tanked 2.06 percent, Hang Lung Properties lost 0.48 percent, Hong Kong & China Gas gained 0.17 percent, JD.com and Meituan both plunged 3.05 percent, Lenovo added 0.44 percent, Li Auto jumped 1.75 percent, Li Ning declined 1.15 percent, New World Development plummeted 4.32 percent, Nongfu Spring strengthened 1.42 percent, Techtronic Industries rallied 2.10 percent, Xiaomi Corporation shed 0.53 percent, WuXi Biologics rose 0.14 percent and Industrial and Commercial Bank of China was unchanged.

The lead from Wall Street is positive as the major averages opened higher on Monday and remained in the green throughout the trading day.

The Dow rallied 440.0.6 points or 0.99 percent to finish at 44,736.57, while the NASDAQ added 51.19 points or 0.48 percent to close at 20,220.36 and the S&P 500 rose 18.03 points or 0.30 percent to end at 5,987.37.

Stocks added to the strong gains posted last week amid a positive reaction to news President-elect Donald Trump intends to nominate billionaire hedge fund manager Scott Bessent as Treasury Secretary.

Bessent is seen as supportive of the equity markets and an advocate for deficit reduction. He has also called for Trump's planned tariff increases to be implemented gradually, which could reduce the impact on inflation.

However, buying interest waned as the day progressed, as traders seemed reluctant to make more significant moves ahead of the release of several key economic reports in the coming days.

Oil prices fell sharply on Monday, weighed down by reports that Israel and Hezbollah are likely to reach a cease-fire agreement within the next few days. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for January ended down $2.30 or 3.2 percent at $68.94 a barrel.

Closer to home, Hong Kong will see October data for imports, exports and trade balance later today. In September, imports were up 1.4 percent on month and exports added 4.7 percent for a trade deficit of HKD53.2 billion.