Hong Kong Bourse May Extend Thursday's Gains

(RTTNews) - The Hong Kong stock market bounced higher again on Thursday, one day after ending the four-day losing streak in which it had dropped nearly 700 points or 4.1 percent. The Hang Seng Index now rests just above the 16,890-point plateau and it may see additional support on Friday.

The global forecast for the Asian markets is upbeat in easing concerns for the health of the United States economy. The European markets were mixed and little changed and the U.S. bourses were sharply higher and the Asian markets figure to follow the latter lead.

The Hang Seng finished slightly higher on Thursday following gains from the financials and mixed performances from the properties and technology stocks.

For the day, the index picked up 13.97 points or 0.08 percent to finish at 16,891.83 after trading between 16,665.06 and 17,023.10.

Among the actives, Alibaba Group perked 0.07 percent, while Alibaba Health Info declined 1.23 percent, ANTA Sports slid 0.15 percent, China Life Insurance sank 0.39 percent, China Mengniu Dairy dropped 0.44 percent, CITIC fell 0.28 percent, CNOOC soared 2.08 percent, CSPC Pharmaceutical rose 0.34 percent, ENN Energy spiked 1.34 percent, Galaxy Entertainment tumbled 1.46 percent, Haier Smart Home skidded 0.83 percent, Hang Lung Properties and WuXi Biologics both lost 0.36 percent, Henderson Land added 0.68 percent, Hong Kong & China Gas was up 0.31 percent, Industrial and Commercial Bank of China collected 0.94 percent, JD.com slumped 0.90 percent, Lenovo advanced 0.82 percent, Li Ning gained 0.43 percent, Meituan retreated 1.32 percent, New World Development rallied 0.95 percent, Nongfu Spring tanked 2.53 percent, Techtronic Industries surged 3.11 percent, Xiaomi Corporation shed 0.38 percent and China Resources Land was unchanged.

The lead from Wall Street is broadly positive as the major averages opened higher and continued to accelerate throughout the day, ending near session highs.

The Dow surged 683.04 points or 1.76 percent to finish at 39,446.49, while the NASDAQ rallied 464.22 points or 2.87 percent to end at 16,660.02 and the S&P 500 jumped 119.81 points or 2.30 percent to close at 5,319.31.

The rally on Wall Street came after the Labor Department released a report showing first-time claims for U.S. unemployment benefits pulled back by more than expected last week.

The data helped ease concerns about the strength of the labor market, which have contributed to recent selling on Wall Street.

On the corporate scene, athletic apparel company Under Armour (UAA) and pharmaceutical giant Eli Lilly (LLY) bounced higher after strong results, while Warner Brothers Discovery (WBD) slumped after showing soft numbers.

Oil futures settled higher on Thursday, amid possible supply disruptions due to Middle East tensions, and on hopes of increased demand in the U.S. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for September ended higher by $0.96 or 1.28 percent at $76.19 a barrel.