Lower Open Called For Hong Kong Stock Market

(RTTNews) - The Hong Kong stock market on Thursday snapped the three-day winning streak in which it had jumped more than 620 points or 2.3 percent. The Hang Seng Index now sits just above the 27,030-point plateau and it's likely to open under pressure again on Friday.

The global forecast for the Asian markets is soft on AI concerns and ahead of key U.S. inflation data. The European markets were mixed and the U.S. bourses were down and the Asian markets figure to follow the latter lead.

The Hang Seng finished modestly lower on Thursday following losses from the financial shares, property stocks and technology companies.

For the day, the index sank 233.84 points or 0.86 percent to finish at 27,032.54 after trading between 26,932.56 and 27,215.63.

Among the actives, Alibaba Group dropped 0.94 percent, while ANTA Sports shed 0.83 percent, China Life Insurance collected 0.64 percent, China Mengniu Dairy and Xiaomi Corporation both declined 1.56 percent, China Resources Land fell 0.75 percent, CITIC surrendered 2.11 percent, CNOOC rallied 1.26 percent, CSPC Pharmaceutical tanked 3.24 percent, Galaxy Entertainment slumped 1.24 percent, Haier Smart Home was down 0.37 percent, Hang Lung Properties lost 0.81 percent, Henderson Land slipped 0.67 percent, Hong Kong & China Gas jumped 1.46 percent, Industrial and Commercial Bank of China sank 0.91 percent, JD.com tumbled 1.28 percent, Lenovo plummeted 4.56 percent, Li Auto skidded 1.14 percent, Li Ning retreated 1.63 percent, Meituan plunged 4.50 percent, New World Development dipped 0.28 percent, Nongfu Spring stumbled 2.07 percent, Techtronic Industries rose 0.17 percent, WuXi Biologics eased 0.14 percent and Alibaba Health Info was unchanged.

The lead from Wall Street is negative as the major averages opened slightly higher on Thursday but quickly headed south and trended lower as the day progressed, ending at session lows.

The Dow stumbled 669.42 points or 1.34 percent to finish at 49,451.98, while the NASDAQ plunged 469.32 points or 2.03 percent to close at 22,597.15 and the S&P 500 dropped 108.71 points or 1.57 percent to end at 6,832.76.

The sell-off on Wall Street was partly attributed to concerns about the impact of the artificial intelligence buildout on industries other than the tech sector, such as financial, transportation and logistics and commercial real estate companies.

In economic news, the Labor Department said first-time claims for U.S. unemployment benefits dipped less than expected last week. Also, the National Association of Realtors said existing home sales pulled back much more than expected in January.

The focus now shifts to the Labor Department's report on consumer price inflation that is due to be released before the start of trading on Friday.

Crude oil prices tumbled on Thursday after the demand forecast by the International Energy Agency for 2026 projected an overwhelming supply glut. West Texas Intermediate crude for March delivery was down $1.97 or 3.05 percent at $62.66 per barrel.