Higher Open Anticipated For Hong Kong Stock Market

(RTTNews) - The Hong Kong stock market on Friday ended the three-day losing streak in which it had tumbled more than 620 points or 3.7 percent. The Hang Seng Index now rests just above the 17,020-point plateau and it's likely to open in the green again on Monday.

The global forecast for the Asian markets is upbeat on an improved outlook for interest rates. The European and U.S. markets were solidly higher and the Asian bourses are expected to follow that lead.

The Hang Seng finished slightly higher on Friday as gains from the technology stocks were offset by weakness from the properties and financials.

For the day, the index added 16.31 points or 0.10 percent to finish at 17,021.31 after trading between 16,924.58 and 17,229.19.

Among the actives, Alibaba Group and New World Development both lost 0.27 percent, while Alibaba Health Info soared 3.49 percent, ANTA Sports and Country Garden both improved 0.43 percent, China Life Insurance collected0.57 percent, China Mengniu Dairy dropped 0.58 percent, China Resources Land tanked 1.84 percent, CITIC eased 0.14 percent, CNOOC added 0.51 percent, CSPC Pharmaceutical sank 0.34 percent, ENN Energy plummeted 3.02 percent, Galaxy Entertainment tumbled 1.03 percent, Haier Smart Home surged 6.10 percent, Hang Lung Properties retreated 0.78 percent, Henderson Land declined 0.67 percent, Hong Kong & China Gas rallied 0.95 percent, Industrial and Commercial Bank of China slumped 0.69 percent, JD.com spiked 3.02 percent, Lenovo rose 0.20 percent, Meituan gained 0.47 percent, Techtronic Industries advanced 0.54 percent, Xiaomi Corporation jumped 0.99 percent, WuXi Biologics stumbled 0.94 percent and Li Ning was unchanged.

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

The Dow surged 654.27 points or 1.64 percent to finish at 40,589.34, while the NASDAQ rallied 176.16 points or 1.03 percent and the S&P 500 gained 59.88 points or 1.11 percent.

For the week, the Dow added 0.8 percent, the NASDAQ slumped 2.1 percent and the S&P fell 0.8 percent.

The strength on Wall Street came as the release of closely watched inflation data by the Commerce Department added to confidence about an interest rate cut by the Federal Reserve in September.

The University of Michigan also released revised data showing consumer sentiment in the U.S. deteriorated less than previously estimated in July.

Oil prices fell on Friday amid concerns about the outlook for demand due to the economic slowdown in China, while hopes for a ceasefire in Gaza also weighed. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for September ended down $1.12 or 1.4 percent at $77.16 a barrel. WTI crude futures lost 1.9 percent in the week.