Hong Kong Shares May Head South Again On Thursday

(RTTNews) - The Hong Kong stock market on Wednesday snapped the two-day slide in which it had tumbled almost 500 points or 1.9 percent. The Hang Seng Index now sits just above the 25,650-point plateau although it's expected to open in the red again on Thursday.

The global forecast for the Asian markets suggests little movement with tech concerns pitted against easing crude oil prices. The European markets were mixed and the U.S. bourses were down and the Asian markets figure to follow that lead, if little changed.

The Hang Seng finished modestly higher on Wednesday following gains from the mining and insurance companies, while energy stocks were soft and the banks and technology shares were mixed.

For the day, the index collected 141.87 points or 0.56 percent to finish at 25,652.97 after trading between 25,615.94 and 25,800.22.

The lead from Wall Street is weak as the major averages opened mixed on Wednesday but spent most of the day under water and finished slightly in the red.

The Dow dropped 113.52 points or 0.21 percent to finish at 53,463.88, while the NASDAQ dipped 21.10 points or 0.08 percent to close at 26,130.20 and the S&P 500 eased 1.58 points or 0.02 percent to end at 7,675.70.

The choppy trading on Wall Street came as traders seemed reluctant to make significant moves ahead of the release of AI giant Nvidia's (NVDA) second quarter results after the close of Wednesday trading. Nvidia then handily beat the street, although some analysts were looking for more.

Traders were also looking ahead to Federal Reserve Chairman Kevin Warsh's speech at the Jackson Hole economic symposium on Friday; traders shrugged off the Commerce Department's report showing consumer prices in the U.S. increased slightly more than expected in July.

Crude oil prices inched lower on Wednesday on reports of Iran and Oman nearing an agreement to establish a temporary transit corridor through the Strait of Hormuz. West Texas Intermediate crude for October delivery was down $0.22 or 0.27 percent at $82.14 per barrel.