Hang Seng Index Likely To Remain Rangebound

(RTTNews) - The Hong Kong stock market has moved higher in two of three days since the end of the four-day losing streak in which it had stumbled almost 1,100 points or 5.2 percent. The Hang Seng Index now sits just beneath the 20,500-point plateau and it's expected to remain in that neighborhood again on Wednesday.

The global forecast for the Asian markets is soft thanks to rising treasury yields. The European and U.S. markets were slightly lower and the Asian bourses are expected to follow suit.

The Hang Seng finished slightly higher on Tuesday following gains from the financial shares and technology companies, while the properties were mixed.

For the day, the index picked up 20.49 points or 0.10 percent to finish at 20,498.95 after trading between 20,380.04 and 20,629.48.

Among the actives, Alibaba Group sank 0.56 percent, while Alibaba Health Info slid 0.25 percent, ANTA Sports jumped 1.75 percent, China Life Insurance slumped 0.61 percent, China Mengniu Dairy soared 2.64 percent, China Resources Land dropped 0.57 percent, CITIC eased 0.11 percent, CSPC Pharmaceutical gained 0.31 percent, Galaxy Entertainment fell 0.29 percent, Haier Smart Home accelerated 1.94 percent, Hang Lung Properties and Henderson Land both tumbled 0.76 percent, Hong Kong & China Gas was down 0.16 percent, Industrial and Commercial Bank of China collected 0.21 percent, JD.com lost 0.32 percent, Lenovo plunged 2.77 percent, Li Auto surged 4.99 percent, Li Ning rallied 1.13 percent, Meituan spiked 1.99 percent, New World Development tanked 1.11 percent, Nongfu Spring advanced 0.66 percent, Techtronic Industries shed 0.44 percent, Xiaomi Corporation climbed 0.82 percent, WuXi Biologics added 0.61 percent and CNOOC, CLP Holdings, Hengan International and CK Infrastructure were unchanged.

The lead from Wall Street offers little clarity as the major averages opened slightly lower on Tuesday and hugged the line throughout the day, with the NASDAQ managing to peek above the line by the close.

The Dow shed 6.71 points or 0.02 percent to finish at 42,924.89, while the NASDAQ rose 33.12 points or 0.18 percent to end at 18,573.13 and the S&P 500 slipped 2.78 points or 0.05 percent to close at 5,851.20.

The early weakness on Wall Street reflected renewed concerns about the outlook for interest rates after a recent surge by U.S. treasury yields.

After the Fed slashed interest rates by 50 basis points last month, CME Group's FedWatch Tool is currently indicating an 89.6 percent chance of just a 25-basis point rate cut next month.

The subsequent recovery by the markets came even though the yield on the benchmark ten-year note crept up to a nearly three-month closing high, as traders are optimistic about the economic outlook.

Oil prices rose sharply on Tuesday amid hopes that China's latest stimulus move will push up demand, although the upside was limited by a possible a ceasefire deal in the Middle East. West Texas Intermediate Crude futures for November added $1.53 or 2.1 percent at $72.09 a barrel.