The Hong Kong stock market on Wednesday ended the two-day slide in which if had fallen more than 530 points or 2 percent. The Hang Seng Index now sits just above the 26,500-point plateau although it figures to open lower again on Thursday.
The global forecast for the Asian markets suggests consolidation after several days of gains. The European and U.S. markets were firmly negative and the Asian bourses are predicted to follow that lead.
The Hang Seng finished modestly higher on Wednesday as gains from the financial shares and property stocks were capped by weakness from the oil companies.
For the day, the index spiked 198.24 points or 0.75 percent to finish at 26,502.84 after trading between 26,445.66 and 26,666.94.
Among the actives, Xiaomi Corporation skyrocketed 4.36 percent, while Hang Lung Properties surged 3.68 percent, WuXi Biologics plummeted 2.70 percent, CNOOC plunged 2.61 percent, AIA Group soared 2.24 percent, WH Group tanked 2.24 percent, Techtronic Industries spiked 2.05 percent, China Mengniu Dairy accelerated 1.66 percent, CSPC Pharmaceutical tumbled 1.45 percent, AAC Technologies skidded 1.29 percent, Ping An Insurance rallied 1.29 percent, Sun Hung Kai Properties jumped 1.26 percent, China Petroleum and Chemical (Sinopec) retreated 1.18 percent, Galaxy Entertainment declined 1.15 percent, Alibaba Group climbed 1.09 percent, New World Development gathered 1.07 percent, Sands China perked 1.02 percent, China Resources Land surrendered 0.81 percent, Industrial and Commercial Bank of China collected 0.63 percent, China Mobile sank 0.55 percent, BOC Hong Kong advanced 0.41 percent, CITIC added 0.35 percent, Hong Kong & China Gas gained 0.34 percent, Power Assets rose 0.24 percent and China Life Insurance dipped 0.12 percent.
The lead from Wall Street is broadly negative after stocks opened higher on Wednesday but quickly headed south and finished firmly in the red.
The Dow dropped 105.07 points or 0.35 percent to finish at 30,068.81, while the NASDAQ plummeted 243.82 points or 1.94 percent to end at 12,338.95 and the S&P 500 sank 29.43 points or 0.79 percent to close at 3,672.82.
The declines on Wall Street came after the markets posting fresh intraday highs on Wednesday and ended the session notably lower due to a sell-off in technology shares.
Investors were tracking the developments on the fiscal stimulus front, and the updates on the coronavirus vaccine front., while profit taking after recent gains also contributed to the markets' fall.
The U.S. saw continued surge in new coronavirus cases, with over 210,000 new cases of infections on Tuesday. After Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin announced a $916 billion stimulus package, lawmakers said they were still looking for a way forward on additional fiscal aid.
Crude oil futures settled lower Wednesday, weighed down by data showing a sharp increase in U.S. crude oil stockpiles last week. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for January settled at $45.52 a barrel, down $0.08 or 0.2 percent.
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