Higher Open Called For Hong Kong Stock Market

(RTTNews) - The Hong Kong stock market has climbed higher in three straight sessions, surging more than 1,675 points or 8.7 percent along the way. The Hang Seng Index now sits just beneath the 19,925-point plateau although it may see profit taking as the day progresses on Friday.

The global forecast for the Asian markets is positive on continued optimism over the outlook for interest rates. The European and U.S. markets were higher and the Asian markets are expected to follow suit, although profit taking may take hold later in the day.

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

For the day, the index soared 795.48 points or 4.16 percent to finish at 19,924.58 after trading between 19,176.58 and 19,954.06.

Among the actives, Alibaba Group rallied 7.06 percent, while Alibaba Health Info spiked 9.86 percent, ANTA Sports surged 13.98 percent, China Life Insurance climbed 4,95 percent, China Mengniu Dairy soared 11,99 percent, China Resources Land skyrocketed 21.51 percent, CITIC gained 3.18 percent, CNOOC plummeted 6.50 percent, CSPC Pharmaceutical advanced 4.20 percent, Galaxy Entertainment accelerated 9.97 percent, Haier Smart Home strengthened 5.72 percent, Hang Lung Properties jumped 7.65 percent, Henderson Land was up 0.98 percent, Hong Kong & China Gas fell 0.31 percent, Industrial and Commercial Bank of China collected 1.05 percent, JD.com spiked 10.10 percent, Lenovo climbed 4.67 percent, Li Auto accelerated 8.15 percent, Li Ning surged 15.03 percent, Meituan rallied 7.71 percent, New World Development rose 2.50 percent, Nongfu Spring soared 12.89 percent, Techtronic Industries added 3.33 percent, Xiaomi Corporation advanced 4.62 percent and WuXi Biologics improved 3.43 percent.

The lead from Wall Street is upbeat as the major averages opened higher on Thursday and maintained a positive bias throughout the session.

The Dow rallied 260.36 points or 0.62 percent to finish at 42,175.11, while the NASDAQ jumped 108.09 points or 0.60 percent to end at 18,190.29 and the S&P 500 added 23.11 points or 0.40 percent to close at 5,745.37.

The early rally on Wall Street reflected strength in the tech sector, with chipmaker Micron (MU) helping lead the way higher after reporting better than expected quarterly results and providing strong fiscal revenue guidance.

Stocks also benefited from the release of upbeat U.S. economic data after the Labor Department said first-time claims for U.S. jobless benefits unexpectedly edged lower last week. The Commerce Department also reported that new orders for U.S. manufactured durable goods were virtually unchanged in August.

Oil prices fell sharply on Thursday, weighed down by concerns about excess supply in the market after reports said OPEC will return 2.2 million barrels per day of production cuts back into the market. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for November ended down $2.02 or 2.9 percent at $67.67 a barrel.