The Hong Kong stock market headed south again on Wednesday, one day after ending the two-day losing streak in which it had plummeted nearly 950 points or 2.6 percent. The Hang Seng Index now sits just above the 28,415-point plateau although it's likely to bounce higher again on Thursday.
The global forecast for the Asian is upbeat, with bargain hunting likely amid optimism for a strong economic rebound. The European markets were up and the U.S. bourses were mixed and the Asian markets figure to split the difference.
The Hang Seng finished modestly lower on Wednesday following losses from the technology stocks and casinos, gains from the financials and a mixed picture from the properties.
For the day, the index retreated 139.16 points or 0.49 percent to finish at 28,417.98 after trading between 28,325.96 and 28,677.36.
Among the actives, AAC Technologies dropped 1.28 percent, while AIA Group lost 0.87 percent, Alibaba Group retreated 2.31 percent, Alibaba Health Info skidded 2.35 percent, ANTA Sports declined 2.24 percent, China Life Insurance added 0.51 percent, China Mengniu Dairy eased 0.12 percent, China Resources Land climbed 1.49 percent, CITIC jumped 1.57 percent, CNOOC spiked 1.81 percent, CSPC Pharmaceutical surrendered 2.07 percent, Galaxy Entertainment tanked 2.60 percent, Hang Lung Properties tumbled 2.54 percent, Henderson Land rose 0.29 percent, Hong Kong & China Gas soared 2.06 percent, Industrial and Commercial Bank of China collected 1.01 percent, Longfor gained 0.31 percent, Meituan sank 1.64 percent, New World Development advanced 0.99 percent, Sands China plummeted 4.33 percent, Sun Hung Kai Properties fell 0.60 percent, Techtronic Industries shed 1.11 percent, Xiaomi Corporation slid 0.40 percent, WuXi Biologics plunged 4.09 percent and China Petroleum and Chemical (Sinopec) was unchanged.
The lead from Wall Street shows a positive bias as stocks fluctuated on Wednesday before ending on opposite sides of the unchanged line.
The Dow gained 97.31 points or 0.29 percent to finish at 34,230.34, while the NASDAQ lost 51.08 points or 0.37 percent to end at 13,582.42 and the S&P 500 rose 2.93 points or 0.07 percent to close at 4,167.59.
Strong gains by Dow Inc. (DOW), Chevron (CVX) and Merck (MRK) helped lift the Dow to a new record closing high.
In economic news, payroll processor ADP said private sector job growth accelerated in April but missed expectations. Also, the Institute for Supply Management noted an unexpected slowdown in the pace of U.S. service sector activity last month.
Crude oil futures dipped slightly on Wednesday as traders weighed global energy demand amid a continued surge in coronavirus cases in Asia. A sharp decline in U.S. crude inventories limited the downside. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for June eased $0.06 at $65.63 a barrel.
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