The Hong Kong stock market has finished higher in three straight sessions, collecting more than 350 points or 1.2 percent along the way. The Hang Seng Index now rests just above the 29,475-point plateau although it's likely to take a breather on Wednesday.
The global forecast for the Asian markets suggests little movement ahead of the approaching Lunar New Year holiday. The European and U.S. markets were mixed and little changed and the Asian bourses figure to follow suit.
The Hang Seng finished modestly higher on Tuesday following mixed performances from the financials, properties, casinos and technology stocks.
For the day, the index advanced 156.72 points or 0.53 percent to finish at 29,476.19 after trading between 29,263.98 and 29,527.67.
Among the actives, CNOOC surged 3.38 percent, while Sands China soared 3.35 percent, Techtronic Industries plummeted 2.85 percent, WuXi Biologics spiked 2.44 percent, China Petroleum and Chemical (Sinopec) accelerated 2.39 percent, China Mengniu Dairy jumped 2.21 percent, AAC Technologies climbed 2.06 percent, AIA Group rallied 1.69 percent, Wharf Real Estate gathered 1.17 percent, Jang Lung Properties plunged 0.97 percent, Industrial and Commercial Bank of China tanked 0.82 percent, China Life Insurance tumbled 0.74 percent, BOC Hong Kong collected 0.65 percent, Meituan perked 0.64 percent, CSPC perked 0.62 percent, Xiaomi Corporation advanced 0.55 percent, China Resources Land skidded 0.48 percent, Hengan International added 0.46 percent, ANTA Sports gained 0.42 percent, Alibaba Group sank 0.39 percent, Ping An Insurance dropped 0.33 percent, Henderson Land shed 0.32 percent, New World Development rose 0.29 percent, Hong Kong & China Gas lost 0.18 percent, CITIC was up 0.16 percent, Galaxy Entertainment fell 0.15 percent and Power Assets and CK Infrastructure both slid 0.12 percent.
The lead from Wall Street offers little guidance as stocks shook off a weak open on Tuesday to finish mixed and little changed following recent strength.
The Dow slid 9.93 points or 0.03 percent to finish at 31,375.83, while the NASDAQ added 20.06 points or 0.14 percent to end at 14,007.70 and the S&P 500 eased 4.36 points or 0.11 percent to close at 3,911.23.
Profit taking contributed to some initial weakness on Wall Street, although selling pressure was relatively subdued as traders worry about missing out on further upside.
Optimism about more fiscal stimulus also helped support the markets along with the recent slowdown in coronavirus infection rates.
Crude oil futures settled higher on Tuesday, extending gains to a seventh straight session amid easing worries about the outlook for energy demand. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for March ended higher by $0.39 or 0.7 percent at $58.36 a barrel, hitting a fresh 13-month high.
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