Lower Open Expected For Hong Kong Shares

(RTTNews) - The Hong Kong stock market has finished lower in two of three trading days since the end of the two-day winning streak in which it had gained more than 230 points or 1.4 percent. The Hang Seng Index now rests just above the 17,300-point plateau and it's expected to open in the red again on Friday.

The global forecast for the Asian markets is soft, thanks to fears of an economic slowdown. The European and U.S. markets finished sharply lower and the Asian bourses are expected to follow suit.

The Hang Seng finished modestly lower on Thursday following losses from the properties, gains from the financials and a mixed picture from the technology stocks.

For the day, the index dropped 39.64 points or 0.23 percent to finish at 17,304.96 after trading between 17,248.12 and 17,408.95.

Among the actives, Alibaba Group added 0.26 percent, while Alibaba Health Info slumped 1.51 percent, ANTA Sports surrendered 3.07 percent, China Life Insurance sank 0.55 percent, China Mengniu Dairy declined 1.98 percent, China Resources Land tanked 3.41 percent, CITIC weakened 1.11 percent, CNOOC jumped 1.95 percent, Country Garden tumbled 2.76 percent, CSPC Pharmaceutical dropped 0.86 percent, Galaxy Entertainment dipped 0.15 percent, Hang Lung Properties retreated 2.61 percent, Henderson Land fell 0.23 percent, Hong Kong & China Gas soared 2.83 percent, Industrial and Commercial Bank of China collected 0.23 percent, JD.com plunged 3.89 percent, Lenovo lost 0.40 percent, Li Ning plummeted 4.52 percent, Meituan eased 0.09 percent, New World Development shed 0.41 percent, Techtronic Industries rallied 1.90 percent, Xiaomi Corporation stumbled 0.95 percent and WuXi Biologics skidded 0.87 percent.

The lead from Wall Street is broadly negative as the major averages opened slightly higher on Thursday but quickly headed south and finished deep under water.

The Dow plummeted 494.82 points or 1.21 percent to finish at 40,347.97, while the NASDAQ tumbled 405.26 points or 2.30 percent to close at 17,194.14 and the S&P 500 sank 75.62 points or 1.37 percent to end at 5,446.68.

The sell-off on Wall Street came as disappointing data led to concerns about the outlook for the U.S. economy and offset optimism about a near-term interest rate cut by Federal Reserve.

The Institute for Supply Management released a report showing U.S. manufacturing activity unexpectedly contracted at an accelerated rate in July.

The Labor Department also released a report showing first-time claims for U.S. unemployment benefits rose to their highest level in almost a year last week.

Oil futures settled lower on Thursday on concerns about disappointing economic data and the outlook for oil demand. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for September ended down $1.60 or about 2.05 percent at $76.31 a barrel.