Bargain Hunting May Lift Hong Kong Stock Market

(RTTNews) - The Hong Kong stock market has finished lower in two straight sessions, sinking more than 600 points or 3 percent along the way. The Hang Seng Index now sits just beneath the 19,800-point plateau although it's expected to open in the green on Tuesday. The global forecast for the Asian markets is mixed to higher, with strong support expected from the technology companies. The European markets were down and the U.S. bourses were mixed and the Asian markets figure to follow the latter lead.

The Hang Seng finished modestly lower gain on Monday following losses from the technology stocks and properties. For the day, the index dropped 175.75 points or 0.88 percent to finish at 19,795.49 after trading between 19,726.15 and 20,049.21. Among the actives, Alibaba Group dropped 1.63 percent, while Alibaba Health Info stumbled 2.76 percent, ANTA Sports eased 0.12 percent, China Life Insurance slumped 1.75 percent, China Mengniu Dairy plunged 3.55 percent, China Resources Land declined 2.35 percent, CITIC lost 0.67 percent, CNOOC advanced 0.79 percent, CSPC Pharmaceutical tanked 3.54 percent, Galaxy Entertainment surrendered 3.34 percent, Haier Smart Home and Techtronic Industries both slid 0.37 percent, Henderson Land sank 1.42 percent, Hong Kong & China Gas and Lenovo both added 0.66 percent, Industrial and Commercial Bank of China jumped 1.67 percent, JD.com was down 0.28 percent, Li Auto fell 0.58 percent, Li Ning skidded 1.65 percent, Meituan weakened 1.85 percent, New World Development plummeted 6.08 percent, Nongfu Spring shed 1.11 percent, Xiaomi Corporation retreated 3.19 percent, WuXi Biologics tumbled 2.92 percent and Hang Lung Properties was unchanged. The lead from Wall Street is cautiously optimistic as the major averages opened mixed on Monday and finished largely the same way.

The Dow shed 110.58 points or 0.25 percent to finish at 43,717.48, while the NASDAQ surged 247.17 points or 1.24 percent to close at a record 20,173.89 and the S&P 500 advanced 22.99 points or 0.38 percent to end at 6,074.08.

The general strength on Wall Street reflected optimism about the outlook for interest rates ahead of the Federal Reserve's monetary policy decision later today. The Fed is widely expected to continue cutting interest rates, with CME Group's FedWatch Tool currently indicating a 99.1 percent chance the central bank will lower rates by another 25 basis points.

The surge by the NASDAQ came amid significant strength among semiconductor stocks, with the Philadelphia Semiconductor Index jumping by 2.1 percent. Networking stocks also saw considerable strength, extending a recent upward trend, driving the NYSE Arca Networking Index up by 2.0 percent to a new record closing high.

Buying interest was somewhat subdued, however, as recent data showing inflation remains somewhat sticky has led to some worries the Fed will lower rates slower than previously anticipated next year.

In U.S. economic news, the Federal Reserve Bank of New York released a report showing a sharp pullback by its reading on regional manufacturing activity in the month of December.

Crude oil prices fell on Monday amid concerns about the outlook for demand after weak economic data from China and the threat of tariffs. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for January closed down $0.58 at $70.71 a barrel. Closer to home, Hong Kong will see November figures for unemployment later today; in October, the jobless rate was 3.1 percent.