The Hong Kong stock market has finished lower in five straight sessions, plunging almost 800 points or 2.7 percent along the way. The Hang Seng Index now rests just above the 29,070-point plateau and the market is expected to open in the red again on Monday.
The global forecast for the Asian markets is soft thanks to political concerns in the United States, although a spike in crude oil prices should limit the downside. The European and U.S. markets were down and the Asian bourses figure to follow suit.
The Hang Seng finished modestly lower on Friday following losses from the properties and insurance companies, while the financials and oil companies were mixed and the casinos ended higher.
For the day, the index sank 103.11 points or 0.35 percent to finish at 29,074.24 after trading between 29,028.76 and 29,345.97.
Among the actives, HSBC, China Life, Ping An, Bank of East Asia, Sun Hung Kai Properties, New World Development, Henderson Land, Tencent, China Petroleum and Chemical (Sinopec) and China Mobile all finished lower, while Bank of China, Industrial and Commercial Bank of China, Hong Kong & China Gas, Wharf Holdings, Galaxy Entertainment, Sands China and CNOOC all ended higher.
The lead from Wall Street is negative as stocks opened sharply lower on Friday. They recovered in afternoon trade but still finished firmly in the red as they backed off recent record closing highs.
The Dow slipped 40.76 points or 0.17 percent to 24,231.59, while the NASDAQ fell 26.39 points or 0.38 percent to 6,847.59 and the S&P 500 dipped 5.36 points or 0.20 percent to 2,642.22. For the week, the NASDAQ slid 0.6 percent, the Dow surged 2.9 percent and the S&P jumped 1.5 percent.
The late-morning sell-off came on news that former National Security Adviser Michael Flynn has agreed to cooperate with prosecutors in the investigation of Russian meddling in last year's election.
However, stocks regained ground as Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ken., declared that Republican leaders have won over enough reluctant lawmakers to pass their tax reform bill.
In economic news, the Commerce Department reported a bigger than expected increase in construction spending in October, while the Institute for Supply Management noted a modest slowdown in the pace of growth in manufacturing activity in November.
Crude oil futures rallied Friday after OPEC producers voted to extend supply cuts through 2018. January WTI oil climbed 96 cents or 1.7 percent to $58.36/bbl. Prices dropped 1 percent for the week.
by RTT Staff Writer
For comments and feedback: editorial@rttnews.com