The Hong Kong stock market headed south again on Friday, one session after ending the seven-day losing streak in which it had plummeted more than 1,100 points or 4.4 percent. The Hang Seng Index now rests just above the 24,870-point plateau although it's expected to bounce higher again on Monday.
The global forecast for the Asian is firm as they get to react to better than expected employment data from the United States and the corresponding bump in crude oil prices. The European and U.S. markets were up on Friday and the Asian markets are tipped to open in similar fashion.
The Hang Seng finished sharply lower on Friday following losses from the financials and oil companies, while the properties, casinos and technology stocks were mixed.
For the day, the index plummeted 354.68 points or 1.41 percent to finish at 24,870.51 after trading between 24,724.39 and 25,049.37.
Among the actives, AIA Group advanced 0.64 percent, while Alibaba Group plummeted 3.44 percent, Alibaba Health Info jumped 1.23 percent, ANTA Sports improved 0.32 percent, China Life Insurance fell 0.74 percent, China Mengniu Dairy added 0.62 percent, China Petroleum and Chemical (Sinopec) skidded 2.09 percent, China Resources Land lost 1.22 percent, CITIC shed 1.37 percent, CNOOC declined 2.16 percent, Country Garden retreated 2.39 percent, CSPC Pharmaceutical plunged 3.43 percent, Galaxy Entertainment gained 0.48 percent, Hang Lung Properties rallied 1.02 percent, Henderson Land surged 2.98 percent, Hong Kong & China Gas was up 0.17 percent, Industrial and Commercial Bank of China dropped 1.64 percent, Li Ning spiked 2.48 percent, Longfor slumped 1.75 percent, Meituan tanked 3.22 percent, Sands China slid 0.58 percent, Sun Hung Kai Properties rose 0.39 percent, Techtronic Industries increased 0.19 percent, Xiaomi Corporation sank 1.69 percent, WuXi Biologics tumbled 2.77 percent and AAC Technologies and New World Development were unchanged.
The lead from Wall Street is firm as the major averages opened sharply higher on Friday, faded somewhat as the day progressed but still ended solidly in the green at fresh record closing highs.
The Dow jumped 203.72 points or 0.56 percent to finish at 36,327.95, while the NASDAQ added 31.28 points or 0.20 percent to close at 15,971.59 and the S&P 500 rose 17.47 points or 0.37 percent to end at 4,697.53. For the week, the NASDAQ spiked 3.1 percent, the S&P jumped 2 percent and the Dow gained 1.4 percent.
The continued strength on Wall Street came after the Labor Department reported that U.S. employment increased by more than expected in October.
The Labor Department described the job growth as widespread, with notable job gains in leisure and hospitality, professional and business services, manufacturing, and transportation and warehousing.
Signals from the Federal Reserve suggesting it is not in a hurry to raise interests also continued to generate buying interest even as the central bank begins scaling back its asset purchases.
Crude oil prices showed a strong move to the upside Friday as traders continued to digest news that OPEC and its allies decided to stick with a plan to raise oil output modestly and gradually. West Texas Intermediate Crude for December delivery jumped $2.46 or 3.1 percent to $81.27 a barrel.
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