Lower Open Called For Hong Kong Stock Market

(RTTNews) - The Hong Kong stock market bounced higher again on Friday, one day after halting the two-day winning streak in which it had jumped more than 950 points or 3.6 percent. The Hang Seng Index now rests just above the 24,950-point plateau although it's expected to open in the red on Monday.

The global forecast for the Asian markets continues to be negative thanks to the conflict in the Middle East and the resulting surge in oil prices. The European and U.S. markets were down and the Asian bourses are expected to open in similar fashion.

The Hang Seng finished modestly higher on Friday as gains from the financials and technology stocks were capped by weakness from the property sector.

For the day, the index added 95.48 points or 0.38 percent to finish at 24,951.88 after trading between 24,712.92 and 25,095.57.

Among the actives, Alibaba Group lost 0.33 percent, while Alibaba Health Info jumped 1.70 percent, ANTA Sports rose 0.13 percent, China Life Insurance eased 0.16 percent, China Mengniu Dairy surged 5.27 percent, China Resources Land fell 0.21 percent, CITIC dipped 0.17 percent, CNOOC shed 0.55 percent, CSPC Pharmaceutical skyrocketed 13.85 percent, Galaxy Entertainment rallied 1.55 percent, Haier Smart Home plummeted 4.12 percent, Hang Lung Properties slumped 1.03 percent, Henderson Land skidded 1.00 percent, Hong Kong & China Gas was down 0.14 percent, Industrial and Commercial Bank of China collected 0.91 percent, JD.com perked 0.09 percent, Lenovo improved 0.32 percent, Li Auto accelerated 1.52 percent, Li Ning strengthened 1.03 percent, Meituan dropped 0.92 percent, New World Development sank 0.84 percent, Nongfu Spring added 0.31 percent, Techtronic Industries tumbled 1.31 percent, Xiaomi Corporation spiked 1.73 percent, WuXi Biologics soared 2.60 percent and CLP Holdings was unchanged.

The lead from Wall Street remains grim as the major averages opened lower on Friday and got worse as the day progressed, ending at session lows.

The Dow plunged 793.46 points or 1.73 percent to finish at 45,166.64, while the NASDAQ tumbled 459.74 points or 2.15 percent to close at 20,948.36 and the S&P 500 dropped 108.31 points or 1.67 percent to end at 6,368.85.

For the week, the NASDAQ plummeted 3.2 percent, the S&P 500 dove 2.1 percent and the Dow slid 0.9 percent. The steep losses dragged the major averages down to their lowest closing levels in over eight months.

A continued surge by the price of crude oil weighed on Wall Street, with international benchmark Brent crude futures jumping back above $110 a barrel after soaring by more than 5 percent.

Crude oil prices skyrocketed on Friday after Iran shut down reports of peace talks for the ongoing conflict. West Texas Intermediate crude for May delivery was up $5.32 or 5.63 percent at $99.80 per barrel.

Analysts suggest that the longer crude oil prices remain at elevated levels, the greater the fear of inflationary pressures continuing to climb.