Lower Open Called For Hong Kong Shares

(RTTNews) - The Hong Kong stock market on Tuesday ended the two-day winning streak in which it had advanced more than 400 points or 1.6 percent. The Hang Seng Index now sits just above the 25,650-point plateau and it's tipped to open in the red again on Wednesday.

The global forecast for the Asian markets is soft thanks to the ongoing conflict in the Middle East and the resulting spike in crude oil prices. The European markets were mixed and the U.S. bourses were down and the Asian markets figure to split the difference.

The Hang Seng finished sharply lower on Tuesday following losses from the financial shares, property stocks and technology companies, although the oil companies offered support.

For the day, the index dropped 284.67 points or 1.10 percent to finish at 25,652.82 after trading between 25,647.66 and 26,060.32.

The lead from Wall Street is weak as the major averages opened mixed on Tuesday but trended downward throughout the day and all finished solidly under water.

The Dow dropped 184.13 points or 0.34 percent to finish at 53,791.85, while the NASDAQ slumped 159.91 points or 0.60 percent to close at 26,445.45 and the S&P 500 sank 24.91 points or 0.32 percent to end at 7,728.20.

The weakness that emerged on Wall Street came amid another notable increase by the price of crude oil after spiking more than 5 percent on Monday.

Crude oil prices surged on Tuesday, extending the gains from the two previous sessions as the U.S.-Iran stalemate continues, diminishing hopes for an early reopening of the Strait of Hormuz. West Texas Intermediate crude for September delivery was up $0.89 or 1.08 percent at $83.02 per barrel.

Traders were also looking ahead to the release of a closely watched report on consumer price inflation on Wednesday, which is likely to have an impact on the outlook for interest rates at next month's FOMC meeting.