Hong Kong Shares May Open Under Water On Friday

(RTTNews) - The Hong Kong stock market on Thursday halted the three-day winning streak in which it had advanced more than 550 points or 2.2 percent. The Hang Seng Index now rests just above the 25,500-point plateau and it may consolidate further on Friday.

The global forecast for the Asian markets is weak on concerns over the Middle East conflict, although easing oil prices may limit the downside. The European and U.S. markets were down and the Asian bourses are expected to open in similar fashion.

The Hang Seng finished sharply lower on Thursday following losses from the entertainment, property and technology companies.

For the day, the index plunged 524.84 points or 2.02 percent to finish at 25,500.58 after trading between 25,449.06 and 25,737.83.

Among the actives, Alibaba Group plunged 4.14 percent, while Alibaba Health Info tumbled 2.91 percent, ANTA Sports shed 1.72 percent, China Life Insurance, China Mengniu Dairy skidded 1.87 percent, China Resources Land stumbled 3.03 percent, CITIC fell 1.04 percent, CNOOC surged 4.52 percent, CSPC Pharmaceutical sank 1.85 percent, Galaxy Entertainment plummeted 4.59 percent, Haier Smart Home slumped 1.91 percent, Hang Lung Properties and WuXi Biologics both crashed 3.94 percent, Henderson Land contracted 2.39 percent, Hong Kong & China Gas rallied 1.78 percent, Industrial and Commercial Bank of China collected 0.15 percent, JD.com dropped 1.86 percent, Lenovo retreated 2.50 percent, Li Auto lost 1.27 percent, Li Ning declined 2.42 percent, Meituan added 0.50 percent, New World Development cratered 4.05 percent, Nongfu Spring and CLP Holdings both slipped 0.74 percent, Techtronic Industries tanked 3.86 percent and Xiaomi Corporation soared 3.36 percent.

The lead from Wall Street is soft as the major averages opened sharply lower on Thursday and stayed that way for most of the session, although a late rally pared the damage to mild by the day's end.

The Dow dropped 203.72 points or 0.44 percent to finish at 46,021.43, while the NASDAQ sank 61.73 points or 0.28 percent to close at 22,090.69 and the S&P 500 fell 18.21 points or 0.27 percent to close at 6,606.49.

The early weakness on Wall Street came amid concerns about the escalation of the war in the Middle East following attacks on critical energy infrastructure across the region.

However, after soaring to nearly $120 a barrel following the latest attacks, Brent crude oil futures have pulled back sharply, contributing to the recovery attempt by stocks.

In U.S. economic news, the Labor Department released a report showing an unexpected dip in first-time claims for U.S. unemployment benefits last week.

Crude oil prices dipped on Thursday as traders dissected U.S. inventory data showing ample supply against production and supply disruption concerns due to the Middle East war. West Texas Intermediate crude for April delivery was down $0.18 or 0.19 percent at $96.14 per barrel.

Closer to home, Hong Kong will release February numbers for consumer prices later this morning; in January, overall inflation was up 0.2 percent on month and 1.1 percent on year.