Hong Kong Shares Due For Support On Monday

(RTTNews) - The Hong Kong stock market has moved lower in three consecutive trading days, surrendering more than 520 points or 2 percent along the way. The Hang Seng Index now rests just above the 25,900-point plateau although it's expected to open in the green on Monday.

The global forecast for the Asian markets is cautiously optimistic, with earnings optimism tempered by interest rate pessimism. The European markets were down and the U.S. bourses were up and the Asian markets figure to split the difference.

The Hang Seng finished sharply lower on Friday following losses from the financial shares, property stocks and technology companies.

For the day, the index plunged 376.04 points or 1.43 percent to finish at the daily low of 25,906.65 after peaking at 26,283.96.

Among the actives, Alibaba Group plummeted 4.07 percent, while Alibaba Health Info rose 0.17 percent, ANTA Sports skidded 0.86 percent, China Life Insurance dropped 0.81 percent, China Mengniu Dairy lost 0.56 percent, China Resources Land shed 0.71 percent, CITIC and Lenovo both tumbled 1.39 percent, CNOOC retreated 1.25 percent, CSPC Pharmaceutical rallied 2.41 percent, Galaxy Entertainment perked 0.05 percent, Haier Smart Home spiked 2.60 percent, Hang Lung Properties slipped 0.46 percent, Henderson Land sank 0.73 percent, Hong Kong & China Gas eased 0.28 percent, Industrial and Commercial Bank of China fell 0.50 percent, JD.com surrendered 2.52 percent, Li Auto slumped 0.99 percent, Li Ning jumped 1.75 percent, Meituan dipped 0.39 percent, New World Development tanked 3.23 percent, Nongfu Spring slid 0.29 percent, Techtronic Industries plunged 3.92 percent, Xiaomi Corporation stumbled 2.17 percent and WuXi Biologics declined 1.04 percent.

The lead from Wall Street is upbeat as the major averages opened higher on Friday, dipped midday but rebounded into the close to finish in the green.

The Dow added 40.75 points or 0.09 percent to finish at 47,562.87, while the NASDAQ climbed 143.81 points or 0.61 percent to end at 23,724.96 and the S&P 500 rose 17.86 points or 0.26 percent to close at 6,840.20. For the week, the NASDAQ surged 2.2 percent, the Dow added 0.8 percent and the S&P gained 0.7 percent.

The early strength on Wall Street reflected a positive reaction to earnings news from Amazon (AMZN), which reached a new record closing high after reporting better than expected third quarter results amid a sharp increase in revenue.

Uncertainty about the outlook for interest rates contributed to the volatility on Wall Street following Federal Reserve Jerome Powell's remarks earlier this week.

While the Fed lowered interest rates by another quarter point as widely expected on Wednesday, Powell's post-meeting remarks partly offset optimism about another rate cut in December.

Crude oil prices edged higher Friday following reports the U.S. intends to strike Venezuelan military installations. West Texas Intermediate crude for December delivery was up $0.41 or 0.68 percent at $60.98 per barrel.