Hong Kong Shares May Find Traction On Thursday

(RTTNews) - The Hong Kong stock market has finished lower in four straight sessions, tumbling more than 550 points or 3.2 percent along the way. The Hang Seng Index now rests just above the 17,470-point plateau although it's expected to stop the bleeding on Thursday.

The global forecast for the Asian markets is upbeat, fueled by technology shares ahead of key inflation data. The European and U.S. markets were up and the Asian bourses are tipped to open in similar fashion.

The Hang Seng finished modestly lower again on Wednesday following losses from the technology stocks, gains from the financials and a mixed picture from the property sector.

For the day, the index shed 51.56 points or 0.29 percent to finish at 17,471.67 after trading between 17,455.08 and 17,765.88.

Among the actives, Alibaba Group gained 0.83 percent, while Alibaba Health Info improved 0.97 percent, ANTA Sports skidded 1.00 percent, China Life Insurance jumped 1.89 percent, China Mengniu Dairy climbed 1.03 percent, China Resources Land tanked 1.70 percent, CITIC slumped 1.12 percent, CNOOC plummeted 3.49 percent, Country Garden rose 0.43 percent, CSPC Pharmaceutical stumbled 1.15 percent, Galaxy Entertainment sank 0.59 percent, Hang Lung Properties increased 0.76 percent, Henderson Land added 0.96 percent, Hong Kong & China Gas advanced 0.99 percent, Industrial and Commercial Bank of China collected 0.23 percent, JD.com rallied 1.66 percent, Lenovo dropped 0.70 percent, Li Ning retreated 1.46 percent, Meituan perked 0.17 percent, New World Development lost 0.55 percent, Nongfu Spring surged 4.44 percent, Techtronic Industries declined 1.34 percent, Xiaomi Corporation plunged 1.71 percent and WuXi Biologics tumbled 1.66 percent.

The lead from Wall Street is broadly positive as the major averages opened flat on Wednesday but climbed steadily throughout the day, ending with strong gains near session highs.

The Dow surged 429.39 points or 1.09 percent to finish at 39,721.36, while the NASDAQ rallied 218.16 points or 1.18 percent to end at a record 18,647.45 and the S&P 500 jumped 56.93 points or 1.02 percent to close at 5,633.91 - also a record.

The rally on Wall Street was due to strength among technology stocks, as reflected by the notable advance by the tech-heavy NASDAQ.

Stocks may also have benefitted from optimism about the outlook for interest rates ahead of the release of closely watched consumer price inflation data later today.

During congressional testimony, Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell said more good data would strengthen the central bank's confidence inflation is moving sustainably toward its 2 percent target and lead to a potential interest rate cut.

Oil futures settled higher Wednesday after data showed a bigger than expected drop in U.S. crude inventories last week. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for August ended higher by $0.69 at $82.10 a barrel.