Hong Kong Shares Tipped To Open Under Pressure

(RTTNews) - The Hong Kong stock market has moved lower in three straight sessions, tumbling more than 770 points or 4.1 percent along the way. The Hang Seng Index now sits just beneath the 18,870-point plateau and it's looking at another soft start again on Friday.

The global forecast for the Asian markets is soft on persistent concerns over the outlook for interest rates. The European markets were mixed and flat and the U.S. bourses were down and the Asian markets figure to follow the latter lead.

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

For the day, the index plummeted 326.89 points or 1.70 percent to finish at 18,868.71 after trading between 18,776.21 and 19,024.41.

Among the actives, Alibaba Group plummeted 5.24 percent, while Alibaba Health Info plunged 2.85 percent, ANTA Sports weakened 2.18 percent, China Life Insurance stumbled 2.25 percent, China Mengniu Dairy tanked 3.15 percent, China Resources Land skidded 2.17 percent, CITIC fell 1.05 percent, CNOOC added 0.74 percent, Country Garden tumbled 2.68 percent, CSPC Pharmaceutical lost 1.08 percent, Galaxy Entertainment shed 1.12 percent, Hang Lung Properties slumped 2.21 percent, Henderson Land retreated 2.43 percent, Hong Kong & China Gas was down 0.78 percent, Industrial and Commercial Bank of China sank 1.26 percent, JD.com tanked 4.11 percent, Lenovo dipped 0.88 percent, Li Ning plummeted 5.61 percent, Meituan slid 0.91 percent, New World Development plunged 4.93 percent, Techtronic Industries declined 2.26 percent, Xiaomi Corporation tumbled 2.57 percent and WuXi Biologics dropped 2.13 percent.

The lead from Wall Street is weak as the major averages opened mixed on Thursday but headed south as the day progressed to end firmly in the red.

The Dow plunged 605.78 points or 1.53 percent to finish at 39,065.26, while the NASDAQ sank 65.51 points or 0.39 percent to close at 16,736.03 and the S&P 500 lost 39.17 points or 0.74 percent to end at 5,267.84.

Initial strength on Wall Street came as tech stocks rallied following upbeat quarterly results from chipmaker Nvidia (NVDA), which reported better than expected fiscal first quarter results and provided upbeat guidance.

Buying interest waned shortly after the start of trading, however, as concerns about the outlook for interest rates continue to hang over the broader markets following Wednesday's slightly hawkish Fed minutes.

Potentially adding to the rate concerns, the Labor Department released a report showing first-time claims for U.S. unemployment benefits fell more than expected last week.

Oil futures settled lower on Thursday for a fourth straight session amid concerns about the outlook for demand, and on data showing an unexpected jump in crude inventories in the U.S. last week. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for July sank $0.70 or 0.9 percent at $76.87 a barrel.