Hong Kong Bourse May Hand Back Wednesday's Gains

(RTTNews) - The Hong Kong stock market has alternated between positive and negative finishes through the last four trading days since the end of the three-day winning streak in which it had rallied almost 750 points or 3.5 percent. The Hang Seng Index now sits just above the 24,360-point plateau and it's likely to remain rangebound on Thursday.

The global forecast for the overbought Asian markets is weak, with profit taking expected. The European and U.S. markets were mostly lower, and the Asian bourses are expected to follow that lead.

The Hang Seng finished modestly higher on Wednesday following gains from the financial shares, property stocks and technology companies.

For the day, the index jumped 204.07 points or 0.84 percent to finish at 24,366.94 after trading between 24,179.35 and 24,439.35.

Among the actives, Alibaba Group climbed 1.34 percent, while ANTA Sports skidded 0.82 percent, China Life Insurance soared 4.58 percent, China Mengniu Dairy dropped 0.55 percent, China Resources Land advanced 0.93 percent, CITIC collected 0.37 percent, CNOOC improved 1.29 percent, CSPC Pharmaceutical plunged 2.75 percent, Galaxy Entertainment strengthened 1.51 percent, Haier Smart Home accelerated 1.72 percent, Hang Lung Properties rose 0.61 percent, Henderson Land shed 0.20 percent, Hong Kong & China Gas gained 0.74 percent, Industrial and Commercial Bank of China spiked 2.49 percent, JD.com jumped 1.52 percent, Lenovo rallied 1.63 percent, Li Auto slumped 0.86 percent, Li Ning added 0.76 percent, Meituan sank 0.42 percent, New World Development surged 5.11 percent, Nongfu Spring stumbled 2.29 percent, Techtronic Industries fell 0.16 percent, Xiaomi Corporation increased 1.22 percent, WuXi Biologics gathered 0.38 percent and Alibaba Health Info was unchanged.

The lead from Wall Street is soft as the major averages spent most of the day in positive territory before a late swoon sent them all into the red.

The Dow dipped 1.10 points or 0.00 percent to finish at 42,865.77, while the NASDAQ dropped 99.11 points or 0.50 percent to close at 19,615.88 and the S&P 500 sank 16.57 points or 0.27 percent to end at 6,022.24.

The downturn on Wall Street reflected profit taking after the early advance lifted the major averages to their best intraday levels in over three months.

The early strength in the markets followed the release of a closely watched Labor Department report showing U.S. consumer prices increased by slightly less than expected in the month of May.

Buying interest was also generated after U.S. and Chinese officials announced an agreement in principle on a framework to ease trade disputes between the two economic superpowers.

Crude oil prices surged on Wednesday amid the trade talks between the U.S. and China, as well as a fresh stand-off between the U.S. and Iran over a nuclear deal. West Texas Intermediate crude for July delivery closed up by $3.32 or 5.11 percent to settle at $68.30 per barrel.