Soft Start Expected For Hong Kong Stock Market

(RTTNews) - The Hong Kong stock market on Tuesday snapped the three-day winning streak in which it had jumped more than 800 points or 3.6 percent. The Hang Seng Index now sits just beneath the 23,500-point plateau and it's likely to open under pressure again on Wednesday.

The global forecast for the Asian markets is soft on renewed hostilities in the Middle East and the corresponding jump in 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 modestly lower on Tuesday following losses from the insurance and energy companies, while the financials and technology stocks were mixed.

For the day, the index lost 119.41 points or 0.51 percent to finish at 23,496.89 after trading between 23,398.27 and 23,820.92.

The lead from Wall Street is weak as the major averages opened mixed but quickly turned lower and spent the balance of the day under water, finishing off session lows.

The Dow sank 130.76 points or 0.25 percent to finish at 52,925.15, while the NASDAQ slumped 302.47 points or 1.16 percent to end at 25,818.69 and the S&P 500 lost 33.58 points or 0.45 percent to close at 7,503.85.

The slump by the NASDAQ came amid a sharp pullback by semiconductor stocks, with the Philadelphia Semiconductor Index plummeting by 4.7 percent.

Gold, airline and computer hardware stocks also saw considerable weakness, while energy, pharmaceutical and healthcare stocks turned in strong performances.

Crude oil prices spiked on Tuesday as concerns of fresh U.S.-Iran conflicts surfaced after attacks on at least three tankers in the Strait of Hormuz. West Texas Intermediate crude for August delivery was up $2.01 or 2.93 percent at $70.56 per barrel.

Energy stocks benefited from that sharp increase by the price of crude oil, although the spike in prices weighed on other sectors.