The Hong Kong stock market on Tuesday ended the two-day winning streak in which it had surged almost 900 points or 5 percent. The Hang Seng Index now rests just beneath the 19,100-point plateau although it may see renewed support on Wednesday.
The global forecast for the Asian is flat to slightly higher, with apprehension reigning over the outlook for interest rates. The European and U.S. markets saw mild upside and the Asian markets figure to follow that lead.
The Hang Seng finished slightly lower on Tuesday as losses from the technology stocks were offset by gains from the property sector.
For the day, the index eased 9.22 points or 0.05 percent to finish at 19,099.28 after trading between 19,033.85 and 19,377.38.
Among the actives, Alibaba Group shed 0.48 percent, while Alibaba Health Info retreated 1.42 percent, ANTA Sports eased 0.06 percent, China Life Insurance collected 0.30 percent, China Mengniu Dairy advanced 0.66 percent, China Resources Land surged 4.60 percent, CITIC jumped 1.59 percent, CNOOC and Meituan both rose 0.16 percent, Country Garden skyrocketed 7.01 percent, CSPC Pharmaceutical lost 0.45 percent, Galaxy Entertainment dropped 0.90 percent, Hang Lung Properties soared 2.30 percent, Henderson Land climbed 1.01 percent, Hong Kong & China Gas and Xiaomi, Corporation both sank 0.55 percent, JD.com spiked 2.17 percent, Lenovo tumbled 1.86 percent, Li Ning slumped 1.18 percent, New World Development rallied 1.02 percent, Techtronic Industries plummeted 4.73 percent, WuXi Biologics skidded 1.14 percent and Industrial and Commercial Bank of China and ENN Energy were unchanged.
The lead from Wall Street is cautiously optimistic as the major averages spent much of Tuesday bouncing back and forth across the unchanged line, finally finishing with slight gains.
The Dow rose 10.42 points or 0.03 percent to finish at 33,573.28, while the NASDAQ added 46.99 points or 0.36 percent to close at 13,276.42 and the S&P 500 picked up 10.06 points or 0.24 percent to end at 4,283.85.
Traders remained reluctant to make significant moves as they continue to look ahead to next week's Federal Reserve meeting.
The Fed is due to announce its latest monetary policy decision next Wednesday, with the central bank widely expected to pause its recent series of interest rate hikes.
Crude oil prices slumped Tuesday on concerns about the outlook for energy demand due to economic slowdown and interest rate hikes. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for July fell $0.41 or 0.6 percent at $71.74 a barrel.
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