Lower Open Called For Hong Kong Stock Market

(RTTNews) - The Hong Kong stock market headed south again on Thursday, one day after ending the two-day losing streak in which it had tumbled almost 450 points or 2 percent. The Hang Seng Index now sits just beneath the 23,720-point plateau and it's tipped to open under pressure again on Friday.

The global forecast for the Asian markets is negative on continuing concerns over U.S. tariffs. The European and U.S. markets finished under water and the Asian markets are expected to open in similar fashion.

The Hang Seng finished modestly lower on Thursday as losses from the technology stocks were offset by gains from the property sector.

For the day, the index lost 69.64 points or 0.29 percent to finish at 23,718.29 after trading between 23,441.74 and 24,076.53.

Among the actives, Alibaba Group stumbled 0.88 percent, while Alibaba Health Info plunged 2.76 percent, ANTA Sports soared 2.90 percent, China Life Insurance declined 0.75 percent, China Mengniu Dairy rallied 2.24 percent, China Resources Land increased 0.56 percent, CITIC and JD.com both dropped 0.54 percent, CNOOC gained 0.45 percent, CSPC Pharmaceutical surged 3.53 percent, Galaxy Entertainment climbed 2.12 percent, Haier Smart Home jumped 2.15 percent, Hang Lung Properties advanced 0.90 percent, Henderson Land improved 0.71 percent, Hong Kong & China Gas rose 0.32 percent, Lenovo tanked 2.69 percent, Li Auto slumped 0.70 percent, Li Ning spiked 2.67 percent, Meituan retreated 0.80 percent, Nongfu Spring added 0.55 percent, Techtronic Industries accelerated 2.31 percent, Xiaomi Corporation plummeted 5.68 percent, WuXi Biologics sank 0.42 percent and Industrial and Commercial Bank of China and New World Development were unchanged.

The lead from Wall Street is grim as the major averages opened higher on Thursday but faded into the red as the day progressed, ending near session lows.

The Dow stumbled 193.62 points or 0.45 percent to finish at 43,239.50, while the NASDAQ plummeted 530 points or 2.78 percent to close at 18,544.42 and the S&P 500 dropped 94.49 points or 1.59 percent to end at 5,861.57.

Stocks initially benefited from earnings news from Nvidia (NVDA), which reported better than expected Q4 results and provided upbeat revenue guidance. But its shares subsequently tumbled by 8.5 percent as the AI darling and market leader also warned about increase global competition.

The sell-off on Wall Street also came as President Donald Trump said 25 percent tariffs on imports from Mexico and Canada will go into effect on March 4. Trump said an additional 10 percent tariff on imports from China will also be imposed, claiming without evidence that drugs are pouring into the U.S. from Mexico and Canada and that a large percentage of them are supplied by China.

In economic news, the Labor Department said first-time claims for U.S. unemployment benefits rose much more than expected last week. Also, the Commerce Department said durable goods orders surged more than expected in January.

Oil prices climbed higher on Thursday as the U.S. decision to revoke Chevron Corporation's license to operate in Venezuela raised supply concerns. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for April closed higher by $1.73 or 2.52 percent at $70.35 a barrel.