Win Streak May End For Hong Kong Stock Market

(RTTNews) - The Hong Kong stock market has moved higher in four straight sessions, climbing almost 1,250 points or 4.9 percent along the way. The Hang Seng Index now sits just above the 26,200-point plateau although it may run out of steam on Thursday.

The global forecast for the Asian markets offers little guidance ahead of key U.S. inflation data later today. The European and U.S. markets were mixed to lower and the Asian bourses re likely to follow that lead.

The Hang Seng finished sharply higher on Wednesday following gains from the financial shares and property stocks, while the technology companies were mixed.

For the day, the index rallied 262.13 points or 1.01 percent to finish at 26,200.26 after trading between 26,017.50 and 26,296.60.

Among the actives, Alibaba Group added 0.63 percent, while Alibaba Health Info fell 0.14 percent, ANTA Sports slumped 0.68 percent, China Life Insurance strengthened 1.85 percent, China Mengniu Dairy dropped 0.40 percent, China Resources Land improved 1.24 percent, CITIC advanced 1.42 percent, CNOOC rose 0.20 percent, CSPC Pharmaceutical retreated 1.62 percent, Haier Smart Home tumbled 1.85 percent, Hang Lung Properties spiked 2.79 percent, Henderson Land accelerated 2.37 percent, Hong Kong & China Gas gained 0.57 percent, Industrial and Commercial Bank of China jumped 1.87 percent, JD.com soared 3.61 percent, Lenovo surged 4.63 percent, Li Ning declined 1.06 percent, Meituan rallied 2.06 percent, New World Development increased 0.60 percent, Nongfu Spring climbed 1.64 percent, Techtronic Industries eased 0.05 percent, Xiaomi Corporation stumbled 2.22 percent, WuXi Biologics sank 0.16 percent and Galaxy Entertainment and Li Auto were unchanged.

The lead from Wall Street is murky as the major averages opened mixed on Wednesday and trended generally downward before finishing on opposite sides of the line.

The Dow stumbled 220.42 points or 0.48 percent to finish at 45,490.92, while the NASDAQ rose 6.57 points or 0.03 percent to close at 21,886.06 and the S&P 500 added 19.43 points or 0.30 percent to end at 6,532.04.

The early strength on Wall Street followed the release of a Labor Department report showing a modest decrease in U.S. producer prices in August. The data added to recent optimism about the Federal Reserve lowering interest rates by at next week's monetary policy meeting.

Buying waned over the course of the session, however, as traders looked ahead to the release of the Labor Department's report on consumer price inflation later today - which may also have a significant effect on the outlook for interest rates.

Crude oil surged on Wednesday on geopolitical tensions in the Middle East and Europe, along with inflation data from the U.S. that has reinforced interest rate cut expectations. West Texas Intermediate crude for October delivery was up $1.07 or 1.71 percent at $63.70 per barrel.