Hong Kong Shares May Open Under Pressure On Monday

(RTTNews) - The Hong Kong stock market has finished higher in two of three trading days since the end of 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 25,580-point plateau although it may head south again on Monday.

The global forecast for the Asian markets is soft on pessimism over the outlook for interest rates. The European markets were up and the U.S. bourses were down and the Asian markets figure to follow the latter lead.

The Hang Seng finished slightly higher on Friday following gains from the energy companies and mixed performances from the financial shares and technology stocks.

For the day, the index rose 19.05 points or 0.07 percent to finish at 25,584.79 after trading between 25,410.46 and 25,699.09.

The lead from Wall Street is weak as the major averages opened slightly higher on Friday but turned lower by midday and remained under water for the balance of the session.

The Dow dipped 9.45 points or 0.02 percent to finish at 53,559.99, while the NASDAQ sank 138.93 points or 0.52 percent to end at 26,402.42 and the S&P 500 fell 19.23 points or 0.25 percent to close at 7,711.76. For the week, the NASDAQ advanced 0.9 percent and the Dow and S&P 500 both rose 0.5 percent.

The weakness that emerged on Wall Street came as Federal Reserve Chairman Kevin Warsh's first speech at the Jackson Hole economic symposium was seen as having a hawkish tilt.

Warsh said that oversharing policy deliberations and overcommitting to future decisions can lead markets, businesses, and households astray. However, he said the numbers that are most concerning are in regard to the price-stability side of the Fed's dual mandate.

Following Warsh's remarks, the chances the Fed will raise interest rates by a quarter-point next month have jumped to 57.7 percent from just 35.4 percent, according to CME Group's FedWatch Tool.

Crude oil prices edged lower Friday as the shift by the U.S. to pressure Iran economically rather than by force dampened the risk premium for crude oil. West Texas Intermediate crude for October delivery eased $0.13 or 0.16 percent at $83.40 per barrel.

Closer to home, Hong Kong will see July data for retail sales later today; in June, sales were up 4.6 percent on year.