Hong Kong Stock Market May Spin Its Wheels On Tuesday

(RTTNews) - The Hong Kong stock market has moved higher in two straight sessions, advancing more than 250 points or 1.2 percent along the way. The Hang Seng Index now sits just above the 20,560-point plateau although it's likely to open under pressure on Tuesday. The global forecast for the Asian markets is flat to lower ahead of the U.S. presidential election and the Federal Reserve rate decision this week. The European and U.S. markets were down and the Asian bourses are tipped to open in similar fashion.

The Hang Seng finished modestly higher on Monday as the financial shares, property stocks and technology companies were mostly in the green.

For the day, the index gained 61.09 points or 0.30 percent to finish at 20,567.52 after trading between 20,446.26 and 20,633.58. Among the actives, Alibaba Group rallied 1.11 percent, while Alibaba Health Info soared 2.83 percent, ANTA Sports rose 0.18 percent, China Life Insurance gained 0.24 percent, China Mengniu Dairy lost 0.34 percent, China Resources Land sank 0.75 percent, CITIC fell 0.22 percent, CNOOC stumbled 1.41 percent, CSPC Pharmaceutical shed 0.57 percent, Haier Smart Home climbed 1.05 percent, Henderson Land jumped 1.58 percent, Hong Kong & China Gas advanced 0.82 percent, Industrial and Commercial Bank of China collected 0.84 percent, JD.com slumped 1.27 percent, Lenovo added 0.58 percent, Li Auto accelerated 2.11 percent, Li Ning perked 0.13 percent, Meituan was up 0.05 percent, Nongfu Spring surged 3.06 percent, Techtronic Industries improved 0.80 percent, WuXi Biologics spiked 2.70 percent and Galaxy Entertainment, Hang Lung Properties, New World Development and Xiaomi Corporation were unchanged.

The lead from Wall Street is soft as the major averages opened lower on Monday, hugged the line for much of the day and finished in the red.

The Dow stumbled 257.59 points or 0.61 percent to finish at 41,794.60, while the NASDAQ shed 59.93 points or 0.33 percent to close at 18,179.98 and the S&P 500 sank 16.11 points or 0.28 percent to end at 5,712.69.

The choppy trading on Wall Street came as traders seemed reluctant to make significant moves ahead of the U.S. elections on Tuesday, as Vice President Kamala Harris faces off against former President Donald Trump.

With polls showing an extremely tight race between Harris and Trump, the outcome of the presidential election may not be known on Election Day.

Traders were also looking ahead to the Federal Reserve's monetary policy decision, which is due to be announced on Thursday. The Fed is widely expected to lower interest rates by another 25 basis points, but traders will be looking to the accompanying statement for clues about the likelihood of future rate cuts.

Oil prices rose sharply on Monday, buoyed by OPEC's decision to delay plans to increase production, and on rising concerns about tensions in the Middle East. West Texas Intermediate crude oil futures for December closed up $1.98 or about 2.85% at $71.47 a barrel, extending gains to a fourth straight session.