Hong Kong Stocks May Be Stuck In Neutral On Wednesday
(RTTNews) – The Hong Kong stock market has climbed higher in three straight sessions, jumping more than 350 points or 1.3 percent along the way. The Hang Seng Index now rests just shy of the 29.470-point plateau although it may spin its wheels on Wednesday.
The global forecast for the Asian markets roughly flat, with optimism for economic recovery offset by inflation concerns. The European markets were up and the U.S. bourses were mixed and flat and the Asian markets figure to follow the latter lead.
The Hang Seng finished sharply higher on Tuesday following gains from the properties, casinos and oil and technology stocks.
For the day, the index advanced 316.20 points or 1.08 percent to finish at 29,468.00 after trading between 29,036.45 and 29,480.16.
Among the actives, AAC Technologies collected 0.64 percent, while AIA Group gained 1.21 percent, Alibaba Group surged 3.41 percent, Alibaba Health Info jumped 2.39 percent, ANTA Sports climbed 2.27 percent, China Life Insurance skidded 0.98 percent, China Mengniu Dairy tumbled 1.70 percent, China Petroleum and Chemical (Sinopec) rallied 2.18 percent, China Resources Land rose 0.96 percent, CITIC sank 0.89 percent, CNOOC spiked 3.32 percent, CSPC Pharmaceutical dipped 0.16 percent, Galaxy Entertainment soared 3.34 percent, Hang Lung Properties increased 0.72 percent, Henderson Land and CLP Holdings both strengthened 0.81 percent, Industrial and Commercial Bank of China lost 0.39 percent, Longfor perked 0.33 percent, Meituan skyrocketed 6.46 percent, New World Development was up 0.36 percent, Sands China advanced 2.17 percent, Sun Hung Kai Properties improved 0.92 percent, Techtronic Industries added 1.26 percent, Xiaomi Corporation fell 0.17 percent, WuXi Biologics accelerated 2.80 percent and Hong Kong & China Gas was unchanged.
The lead from Wall Street offers little guidance as stocks opened higher on Tuesday but quickly faded, bouncing back and forth across the unchanged line before finishing mixed and little changed.
The Dow added 45.86 points or 0.13 percent to finish at 34,575.31, while the NASDAQ fell 12.26 points or 0.09 percent to end at 13,736.48 and the S&) 500 eased 2.07 points or 0.05 percent to close at 4,202.04.
The initial strength on Wall Street came as upbeat manufacturing data from overseas added to optimism about the outlook for the global economy. Also, the Institute for Supply Management said manufacturing activity in the U.S. expanded at a slightly faster pace in May.
Buying interest waned shortly after the start of trading, however, as traders continued to express uncertainty about inflation and the outlook for monetary policy.
Traders may also have been reluctant to make significant moves ahead of the release of the Labor Department’s closely watched monthly jobs report on Friday.
Crude oil prices rose sharply on Tuesday amid optimism for a strong global economic recovery and increased demand following a drop in fresh coronavirus cases and an acceleration in the vaccination drive. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for July jumped $1.40 or 2.1 percent at $67.72 a barrel, the highest since October 2018.
