Lower Open Called For Hong Kong Stock Market

(RTTNews) - The Hong Kong stock market has tracked higher in two straight sessions, improving more than 620 points or 2.3 percent in that span. The Hang Seng Index now sits just above the 27,180-point plateau although it's likely to open under pressure on Wednesday.

The global forecast for the Asian markets suggests little movement ahead of the release of U.S. employment data later today. The European and U.S. markets finished mixed and little changed and the Asian bourses figure to follow that lead.

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

For the day, the index gained 155.99 points or 0.58 percent to finish at 27,183.15 after trading between 27,104.82 and 27,397.65.

Among the actives, Alibaba Group vaulted 1.65 percent, while Alibaba Health Info tanked 2.07 percent, ANTA Sports gained 0.73 percent, China Life Insurance strengthened 1.37 percent, China Mengniu Dairy skidded 1.09 percent, China Resources Land rose 0.12 percent, CITIC and Lenovo both jumped 1.74 percent, CNOOC soared 2.67 percent, CSPC Pharmaceutical skyrocketed 5.52 percent, Galaxy Entertainment tumbled 1.82 percent, Haier Smart Home and Hang Lung Properties both added 0.82 percent, Henderson Land perked 0.06 percent, Hong Kong & China Gas slumped 1.57 percent, Industrial and Commercial Bank of China collected 0.77 percent, JD.com spiked 1.95 percent, Li Auto expanded 1.18 percent, Li Ning increased 0.93 percent, Meituan stumbled 2.47 percent, New World Development climbed 1.12 percent, Nongfu Spring retreated 1.77 percent, Techtronic Industries improved 1.06 percent, Xiaomi Corporation advanced 1.08 percent and WuXi Biologics surged 4.65 percent.

The lead from Wall Street offers little clarity as the major averages opened mixed on Tuesday, hugged both sides of the line all day and then finished little changed.

The Dow rose 52.27 points or 0.10 percent to finish at 50,188.14, while the NASDAQ slumped 136.20 points or 0.59 percent to end at 23,102.47 and the S&P 500 sank 23.01 points or 0.33 percent to close at 6,941.81.

The choppy trading on Wall Street came as traders seemed reluctant to make significant moves ahead of the release of the Labor Department's closely watched monthly jobs report later today.

The report, which was delayed due to the brief government shutdown last week, is expected to show employment climbed by 70,000 jobs in January after rising by 50,000 jobs in December. The unemployment rate is expected to hold at 4.4 percent.

Meanwhile, traders largely shrugged off a Commerce Department report showing retail sales in the U.S. were unexpectedly flat in December. A separate report from the Labor Department showed import prices in the U.S. crept up in line with estimates in December.

Crude oil prices ticked lower on Tuesday ahead of the U.S. jobs data. West Texas Intermediate crude for March delivery was down $0.12 of 0.19 percent to $64.24 per barrel.