Additional Support Called For Hong Kong Stock Market

(RTTNews) - The Hong Kong stock market on Tuesday snapped the five-day losing streak in which it had stumbled more than 800 points or 4.6 percent. The Hang Seng Index now sits just above the 17,230-point plateau and it may add to its winnings on Wednesday.

The global forecast for the Asian markets is mixed and flat ahead of key inflation data later this week. The European markets were down and the U.S. bourses were mixed and the Asian markets figure to follow the latter lead.

The Hang Seng finished slightly higher on Tuesday following mixed performances from the financial shares and technology companies, while the property sector was soft.

For the day, the index rose 37.13 points or 0.22 percent to finish at 17,234.09 after trading between 17,133.50 and 17,297.95.

Among the actives, Alibaba Group soared 4.21 percent, while Alibaba Health Info skidded 1.40 percent, ANTA Sports slumped 1.49 percent, China Life Insurance shed 0.71 percent, China Mengniu Dairy lost 0.48 percent, China Resources Land plummeted 4.30 percent, CITIC perked 0.14 percent, CNOOC added 0.42 percent, CSPC Pharmaceutical tumbled 2.15 percent, Galaxy Entertainment climbed 0.70 percent, Haier Smart Home declined 1.72 percent, Hang Lung Properties skidded 1.46 percent, Henderson Land dropped 1.28 percent, Hong Kong & China Gas sank 0.81 percent, Industrial and Commercial Bank of China collected 0.96 percent, JD.com rallied 1.19 percent, Lenovo retreated 1.75 percent, Li Auto surged 6.33 percent, Li Ning stumbled 1.59 percent, Meituan gained 0.25 percent, New World Development tanked 2.68 percent, Nongfu Spring surrendered 2.31 percent, Techtronic Industries spiked 1.36 percent, Xiaomi Corporation rose 0.21 percent and WuXi Biologics plunged 3.88 percent.

The lead from Wall Street is cautiously optimistic as the major averages opened mixed on Tuesday and bounced back and forth across the line before finishing on opposite sides.

The Dow shed 92.63 points or 0.23 percent to finish at 40,736.96, while the NASDAQ jumped 141.28 points or 0.84 percent to close at 17,025.88 and the S&P 500 added 24.47 points or 0.45 percent to end at 5,495.52.

The volatility seen over the course of the trading day came as traders looked ahead to the release of closely watched consumer and producer price inflation data on Wednesday and Thursday, respectively.

The data could impact the outlook for interest rates ahead of the Federal Reserve's monetary policy meeting next week.

The Fed is almost universally expected to begin lowering interest rates next week, but there is some debate about if the rate cut will be 25 basis points or 50.

Crude oil prices slumped on Tuesday, ahead of the inflation data and on concerns over the health of the global economy. West Texas Intermediate crude for October delivery stumbled $2.43 or 3.54 percent to finish at $66.28 per barrel.