The Hong Kong stock market has moved lower in consecutive trading days, sinking almost 210 points or 0.8 percent along the way. The Hang Seng Index now rests just beneath the 24,710-point plateau and it's tipped to open in the red again on Thursday.
The global forecast for the Asian suggests major consolidation due to surging coronavirus cases around the world. The European and U.S. markets were sharply lower and the Asian markets figure to follow suit.
The Hang Seng finished modestly lower on Wednesday following losses from the financial shares, property stocks and oil and insurance companies.
For the day, the index lost 78.39 points or 0.32 percent to finish at 24,708.80 after trading between 24,586.06 and 24,844.79.
Among the actives, WH Group surged 6.89 percent, while Ping An Insurance plummeted 3.19 percent, China Petroleum and Chemical (Sinopec) plunged 3.18 percent, Hang Lung Properties lost 2.52 percent, China Mobile tanked 2.49 percent, BOC Hong Kong tumbled 2.48 percent, Alibaba Group soared 2.47 percent, CITIC skidded 1.72 percent, Galaxy Entertainment retreated 1.68 percent, Xiaomi Corporation jumped 1.42 percent, Hong Kong & China Gas declined 1.41 percent, CNOOC surrendered 1.36 percent, Industrial and Commercial Bank of China and China Resources Land both sank 1.09 percent, Sands China dropped 1.04 percent, Power Assets shed 0.74 percent, China Life Insurance fell 0.66 percent, WuXi Biologics slid 0.44 percent, AIA Group and China Mengniu Dairy both added 0.26 percent, CSPC Pharmaceutical eased 0.12 percent and AAC Technologies was unchanged.
The lead from Wall Street is brutal as stocks opened deep in the red on Wednesday and were hammered throughout the day, finishing sharply lower.
The Dow plummeted 943.24 points or 3.43 percent to finish at 26,519.95, while the NASDAQ plunged 426.48 points or 3.73 percent to end at 11,004.87 and the S&P 500 tumbled 119.65 points or 3.53 percent to close at 3,271.03.
The sell-off on Wall Street came amid continued concerns about a recent spike in coronavirus cases across the U.S. - which has averaged more than 70,000 new coronavirus cases a day over the past week. Twenty-nine states have set new records this month for the most new daily cases since the pandemic began in February.
Meanwhile, President Donald Trump has continued to downplay the pandemic in recent days, accusing the media of focusing too much on the disease ahead of next week's elections.
Lingering uncertainty about a new stimulus bill also weighed on Wall Street, with some analysts suggesting a victory by Joe Biden could make Republicans less likely to approve a new relief package until next year.
Crude oil futures ended sharply lower Wednesday, weighed down by data showing a notable increase in crude inventories, and worries about energy demand due to rising coronavirus cases. West Texas Intermediate oil futures for December ended down $2.18 or 5.5 percent at $37.39 a barrel.
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