The Hong Kong stock market has finished lower in two of three trading days since the end of the three-day winning streak in which it had advanced almost 880 points or 3.1 percent. The Hang Seng Index now sits just above the 28,410-point plateau although it's likely to bounce higher again on Tuesday.
The global forecast for the Asian is positive, supported by crude oil prices and bargain hunting. The European and U.S. markets were solidly higher and the Asian bourses are expected to open in similar fashion.
The Hang Seng finished slightly lower on Monday following losses from the financials and casinos, gains from the oil companies and mixed performances from the technology and property stocks.
For the day, the index dipped 46.18 points or 0.16 percent to finish at 28,412.26 after trading between 28,195.52 and 28,444.36.
Among the actives, AAC Technologies fell 0.22 percent, while AIA Group and Industrial and Commercial Bank of China both slipped 0.20 percent, Alibaba Group tumbled 1.44 percent, Alibaba Health Info plunged 2.05 percent, ANTA Sports spiked 1.55 percent, China Life Insurance collected 0.25 percent, China Mengniu Dairy was down 0.12 percent, China Petroleum and Chemical (Sinopec) gained 0.24 percent, China Resources Land jumped 0.69 percent, CITIC rose 0.11 percent, CNOOC advanced 0.47 percent, CSPC Pharmaceutical surged 4.43 percent, Galaxy Entertainment shed 0.64 percent, Hang Lung Properties rallied 0.52 percent, Henderson Land added 0.42 percent, Hong Kong & China Gas climbed 0.60 percent, Longfor lost 0.33 percent, Meituan tanked 1.53 percent, New World Development eased 0.12 percent, Sands China dropped 1.18 percent, Sun Hung Kai Properties skidded 1.34 percent, Techtronic Industries soared 3.31 percent, Xiaomi Corporation plummeted 2.91 percent and WuXi Biologics dropped 0.81 percent.
The lead from Wall Street is firm as the major averages opened solidly higher on Monday and picked up steam as the session progressed.
The Dow climbed 186.14 points or 0.54 percent to finish at 34,393.98, while the NASDAQ jumped 190.18 points or 1.41 percent to end at 13,661.17 and the S&P 500 advanced 41.19 points or 0.99 percent to close at 4,197.05.
The gains on Wall Street came as continued optimism about global economic recovery and the momentum in vaccination drive outweighed concerns over inflation and fears of monetary tightening by central banks.
While the Federal Reserve has repeatedly signaled it believes the recent increase in inflation largely reflects "transitory factors," a spike in prices could still raise concerns about the central bank tapering its asset purchases.
Crude oil futures climbed higher on Monday as inconclusive nuclear deal negotiations with Iran and reports of a possible hurricane in the Gulf of Mexico supporting prices. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for July surged $2.47 or 3.9 percent at $66.05 a barrel.
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