Hang Seng Likely To Remain Rangebound

(RTTNews) - The Hong Kong stock market has moved higher in two of three trading days since the end of the five-day losing streak in which it had given up more than 850 points or 3 percent. The Hang Seng Index now sits just above the 24,710-point plateau although it's looking at a soft start on Thursday.

The global forecast for the Asian markets is soft after the U.S. Federal Reserve raised interest rates for the first time in three years. The European markets were up and the U.S. bourses were down and the Asian markets are expected to follow the latter lead.

The Hang Seng finished slightly higher on Wednesday as gains from the metals and technology companies were offset by weakness from the financial shares and retailers.

For the day, the index rose 46.54 points or 0.19 percent to finish at 24,713.78 after trading between 24,574.75 and 24,789.91.

The lead from Wall Street is negative as the major averages opened mixed on Wednesday and hugged the line for much of the day before slumping late in the day.

The Dow tumbled 631.21 points or 1.21 percent to finish at 51,461.90, while the NASDAQ dipped 3.15 points or 0.01 percent to close at 25,978.42 and the S&P 500 sank 33.92 points or 0.45 percent to end at 7,551.81.

The late-day weakness that emerged on Wall Street came after the Federal Reserve announced its widely expected decision to raise interest rates for the first time since July 2023.

Selling picked up as Fed Chair Kevin Warsh gave his post-meeting press conference, which highlighted persistent inflation. The projections show that a majority of Fed officials expect rates to be above 4 percent by the end of 2026, suggesting at least one more rate hike this year.

Crude oil prices plummeted on Wednesday following the interest rate decision from the Fed. In addition, reports of Saudi Arabia loading crude cargoes via Oman lowered supply-related concerns. West Texas Intermediate crude for October delivery was down $3.61 or 3.41 percent at $102.22 per barrel.