Soft Start Expected For Hong Kong Stock Market

(RTTNews) - The Hong Kong stock market has moved higher in three consecutive trading days, advancing almost 700 points or 2.7 percent along the way. The Hang Seng Index now sits just beneath the 26,850-point plateau although it's likely to see profit taking on Wednesday.

The global forecast for the Asian markets is soft thanks to geopolitical concerns. The European and U.S. markets were down, likely consigning Asian markets at records highs to profit taking.

The Hang Seng finished modestly higher again on Tuesday following gains from the financial shares, property stocks and technology companies.

For the day, the index jumped 239.99 points or 0.90 percent to finish at 26,848.47 after trading between 26,729.54 and 27,143.66.

Among the actives, Alibaba Group soared 3.63 percent, while Alibaba Health Info vaulted 2.83 percent, ANTA Sports strengthened 1.01 percent, China Life Insurance spiked 3.51 percent, China Mengniu Dairy expanded 0.53 percent, China Resources Land improved 0.41 percent, CITIC gained 0.16 percent, CNOOC jumped 2.58 percent, CSPC Pharmaceutical accelerated 3.38 percent, Galaxy Entertainment increased 0.36 percent, Haier Smart Home climbed 0.92 percent, Hang Lung Properties tumbled 1.71 percent, Henderson Land rallied 2.99 percent, Hong Kong & China Gas rose 0.14 percent, Industrial and Commercial Bank of China collected 0.96 percent, JD.com advanced 0.43 percent, Lenovo lost 0.44 percent, Li Ning stumbled 2.55 percent, Meituan fell 0.10 percent, New World Development skyrocketed 7.23 percent, Nongfu Spring sank 0.62 percent, Techtronic Industries added 0.35 percent, Xiaomi Corporation tanked 1.96 percent, WuXi Biologics surged 5.85 percent and Li Auto was unchanged.

The lead from Wall Street is negative as the major averages opened mixed on Tuesday but quickly headed south and spent most of the balance of the day in the red, finishing off session lows.

The Dow dropped 398.21 points or 0.80 percent to finish at 49,191.99, while the NASDAQ sank 24.03 points or 0.10 percent to close at 23,709.87 and the S&P 500 dipped 13.53 points or 0.19 percent to end at 6,963.74.

The choppy trading by the broader markets reflected uncertainty about the near-term outlook amid rising geopolitical tensions around the world and a flurry of proposals by President Donald Trump.

In U.S. economic news, the Labor Department released a report showing consumer prices in the U.S. increased in line with economist estimates in the month of December.

Crude oil prices skyrocketed on Tuesday, extending a recent surge amid increasing geopolitical risks due to escalating tensions between the U.S. and Iran, which have raised output-and-supply concerns. West Texas Intermediate crude for February delivery was up $1.55 or 2.61 percent at $61.05 per barrel.