Higher Open Predicted For Hong Kong Stock Market

(RTTNews) - The Hong Kong stock market has moved lower in two of three trading days since the end of the two-day winning streak in which it had rallied almost 550 points or 2.2 percent. The Hang Seng Index now rests just above the 25,750-point plateau although it may move back to the upside again on Friday.

The global forecast for the Asian markets comes on cautious optimism for easing hostilities in the Middle East. The European markets were down and the U.S. bourses were up and the Asian markets figure to follow the latter lead.

The Hang Seng finished modestly lower on Thursday as losses from the technology stocks were mitigated by support from the financial sector.

For the day, the index sank 140.62 points or 0.54 percent to finish at 25,752.40 after trading between 25,653.63 and 25,854.80.

Among the actives, AIA eased 0.17 percent, while Alibaba Group tanked 2.85 percent, Baidu retreated 1.79 percent, Bank of China gained 0.40 percent, BOC Hong Kong collected 0.59 percent, BYD Company plummeted 4.68 percent, China Construction Bank slumped 0.71 percent, China Life Insurance rose 0.23 percent, China Merchants Bank advanced 0.80 percent, China Mobile slid 0.31 percent, China Petroleum & Chemical stumbled 1.91 percent, China Shenhua Energy fell 0.22 percent, CITIC added 0.49 percent, CNOOC soared 2.07 percent, Hong Kong Exchange contracted 1.02 percent, HSBC perked 0.22 percent, Industrial and Commercial Bank of China jumped 1.17 percent, JD.com dipped 0.19 percent, Meituan shed 0.56 percent, NetEase dropped 0.90 percent, Nongfu Spring declined 1.77 percent, PetroChina rallied 1.99 percent, Ping An Insurance lost 0.24 percent, Semiconductor Manufacturing sank 0.80 percent, Sun Hung Kai Properties was down 0.07 percent, Tencent Holdings was up 0.10 percent, Xiaomi Corporation plunged 4.27 percent, WuXi AppTec surged 3.45 percent and Zijin Mining tumbled 1.94 percent.

The lead from Wall Street ends up positive as the major averages shook off early weakness on Thursday to climb solidly up into the green by midday.

The Dow jumped 275.88 points or 0.58 percent to finish at 48,185.80, while the NASDAQ rallied 187.42 points or 0.83 percent to end at 22,822.42 and the S&P 500 gained 41.85 points or 0.62 percent to close at 6,824.66.

The early weakness came amid concerns about the fragility of the ceasefire in the Middle East, with Iran accusing the U.S. and Israel of violating the agreement.

Iran's deputy foreign minister Saeed Khatibzadeh claimed in an interview with the BBC that Iran had once again closed the Strait of Hormuz.

However, stocks rebounded after Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Israel would begin negotiating with Lebanon "as soon as possible."

Crude oil prices soared on Thursday as Iran allowed only restricted naval traffic through the Strait of Hormuz, renewing supply disruption concerns. West Texas Intermediate crude for May delivery was up $3.25 or 3.44 percent at $97.66 per barrel.