Hong Kong Shares Tipped To Open To The Downside On Monday

(RTTNews) - The Hong Kong stock market bounced higher again on Friday, one day after ending the four-day winning streak in which it had climbed almost 1,250 points or 4.9 percent. The Hang Seng Index now sits just beneath the 26,390-point plateau although it figures to find renewed selling pressure on Monday.

The global forecast for the Asian markets is soft, with geopolitical concerns in the Middle East likely to weigh. The European and U.S. markets were mostly lower and the Asian markets figure to open in similar fashion.

The Hang Seng finished sharply higher on Friday as the finance, property and technology sectors finished mostly in the green.

For the day, the index jumped 301.86 points or 1.16 percent to finish at 26,388.16 after trading between 26,329.66 and 26,585.95.

Among the actives, Alibaba Group surged 5.44 percent, while Alibaba Health Info stumbled 2.64 percent, ANTA Sports slumped 0.80 percent, China Life Insurance collected 0.35 percent, China Mengniu Dairy sank 0.59 percent, China Resources Land rallied 1.35 percent, CITIC and CLP Holdings both perked 0.08 percent, CNOOC and Hengan International both shed 0.56 percent, CSPC Pharmaceutical soared 2.27 percent, Galaxy Entertainment rose 0.10 percent, Hang Lung Properties increased 1.13 percent, Henderson Land jumped 1.51 percent, Hong Kong & China Gas lost 0.42 percent, JD.com strengthened 1.46 percent, Lenovo spiked 2.25 percent, Li Auto improved 1.14 percent. Li Ning fell 0.39 percent, New World Development accelerated 2.15 percent, Nongfu Spring dropped 0.76 percent, Techtronic Industries added 0.71 percent, Xiaomi Corporation advanced 0.91 percent, WuXi Biologics climbed 1.33 percent and Haier Smart Home, Industrial and Commercial Bank of China and Meituan were unchanged.

The lead from Wall Street offers little clarity as the major averages opened mixed on Friday and closed on opposite sides of the line.

The Dow dropped 273.78 points or 0.59 percent to finish at 45,834.22, while the NASDAQ gained 98.03 points or 0.44 percent to close at 22,141.10 and the S&P 500 dipped 3.18 points or 0.05 percent to end at 6,584.29.

For the week, the NASDAQ surged 2.0 percent, while the S&P 500 shot up 1.6 percent and the Dow jumped 1.0 percent.

The mixed performance on Wall Street came as traders looked ahead to the Federal Reserve's monetary policy announcement next Wednesday. With recent data showing relatively subdued inflation and a weakening labor market, the Fed is widely expected to lower interest rates by at least a quarter point.

Traders will pay close attention to the Fed's accompanying statement as well as Fed Chair Jerome Powell's post-meeting comments for clues about the likelihood of more rate cuts. Currently, the Fed is expected to lower rates by another 25 basis points at both its October and December meetings, although Powell is likely to say future rate cuts will depend on incoming economic data.

Crude oil has moved higher Friday as concerns over supply side disruptions linger, with the Russia-Ukraine war intensifying and a new conflict brewing in the Middle East. West Texas Intermediate crude for October delivery was up $0.31 or 0.50 percent at $62.68 per barrel.

Closer to home, Hong Kong will provide Q2 data for industrial production and producer prices later today; in the three months prior, production was up 0.7 percent on year and PPI climbed an annual 4.8 percent.