Lower Open Anticipated For Hong Kong Stock Market

(RTTNews) - The Hong Kong stock market has moved lower in two straight sessions, tumbling more than 440 points or 2.3 percent along the way. The Hang Seng Index now sits just beneath the 19,200-point plateau and it may extend its losses again on Thursday.

The global forecast for the Asian markets is negative on a dimming outlook for interest rates. The European and U.S. markets were down and the Asian markets are expected to open in similar fashion.

The Hang Seng finished slightly lower following mixed performances from the financial shares, property stocks and technology companies.

For the day, the index was down 25.02 points or 0.13 percent to finish at 19,195.60 after trading between 19,149.41 and 19,359.68.

Among the actives, Alibaba Group retreated 1.66 percent, while Alibaba Health Info jumped 1.61 percent, ANTA Sports climbed 1.59 percent, China Life Insurance added 0.81 percent, China Mengniu Dairy advanced 0.98 percent, CITIC rose 0.12 percent, CNOOC declined 0.94 percent, Country Garden surged 7.58 percent, CSPC Pharmaceutical and Hengan International both slumped 0.91 percent, Galaxy Entertainment rallied 1.77 percent, Hang Lung Properties sank 0.24 percent, JD.com tumbled 2.27 percent, Lenovo skyrocketed 12.18 percent, Li Ning soared 4.11 percent, Meituan dropped 0.66 percent, New World Development spiked 2.37 percent, Techtronic Industries skidded 0.88 percent, Xiaomi Corporation gained 0.73 percent, WuXi Biologics eased 0.15 percent and Henderson Land, Hong Kong & China Gas, Industrial and Commercial Bank of China and China Resources Land were unchanged.

The lead from Wall Street is soft as the major averages spent the first half of Wednesday hugging the line before stumbling into the red late in the day.

The Dow tumbled 201.95 points or 0.51 percent to finish at 39,671.04, while the NASDAQ dropped 31.08 points or 0.18 percent to close at 16,801.54 and the S&P 500 fell 14.40 points or 0.27 percent to end at 5,307.01.

The weakness that emerged on Wall Street came as the Fed minutes suggested officials expect to maintain interest rates at current levels longer than previously thought.

The minutes of the April 30-May 1 meeting said participants highlighted disappointing readings on inflation over the first quarter and indicators pointing to strong economic momentum.

While officials also discussed reducing policy restraint in the event of an unexpected weakening in labor market conditions, participants also noted a willingness to raise rates further of necessary should risks to inflation materialize.

Oil prices fell to a two-month low on Wednesday after data showed an unexpected rebound in crude oil inventories in the U.S. last week. West Texas Intermediate crude oil futures for July ended down by $1.09 or 1.4 percent at $77.57 a barrel.

Closer to home, Hong Kong will see April figures for consumer prices later today; in March, overall inflation was flat on month and up 2.00 percent on year.