Hang Seng May Reverse Friday's Losses

(RTTNews) - The Hong Kong stock market has moved lower in two of three trading days since the end of the three-day winning streak in which it had surged almost 700 points or 3.4 percent. The Hang Seng Index now sits just beneath the 20,730-point plateau although it may open to the upside on Monday.

The global forecast for the Asian markets is mixed as countries weigh the results of the U.S. elections. The European markets were down and the U.S. bourses were up and the Asian markets figure to split the difference.

The Hang Seng finished sharply lower on Friday following losses from the financial shares, property stocks and oil companies, while the technology issues were mixed.

For the day, the index skidded 225.15 points or 1.07 percent to finish ta 20,728.19 after trading between 20,705.12 and 21,355.44.

Among the actives, Alibaba Group weakened 1.73 percent, while Alibaba Health Info surrendered 2.70 percent, ANTA Sports added 0.34 percent, China Life Insurance retreated 2.36 percent, China Mengniu Dairy tanked 2.74 percent, China Resources Land plunged 2.90 percent, CITIC tumbled 2.40 percent, CNOOC sank 1.55 percent, CSPC Pharmaceutical skidded 1.65 percent, Galaxy Entertainment eased 0.14 percent, Haier Smart Home fell 0.89 percent, Hang Lung Properties declined 2.16 percent, Henderson Land dipped 0.57 percent, Hong Kong & China Gas was down 0.49 percent, Industrial and Commercial Bank of China slid 0.61 percent, JD.com climbed 1.11 percent, Lenovo advanced 0.92 percent, Li Auto slumped 1.79 percent, Li Ning shed 1.47 percent, Meituan plummeted 4.05 percent, New World Development and ENN Energy both dropped 1.61 percent, Nongfu Spring lost 1.32 percent, Techtronic Industries rallied 1.20 percent, Xiaomi Corporation jumped 1.62 percent and WuXi Biologics stumbled 2.39 percent.

The lead from Wall Street is positive as the major averages opened higher on Friday and all finished with modest gains to fresh record closing highs.

The Dow jumped 259.65 points or 0.59 percent to finish at 43,988.99, while the NASDAQ rose 17.32 points or 0.09 percent to close at 19,286.78 and the S&P 500 added 22.44 points or 0.38 percent to end at 5,995.54.

For the week, the tech-heavy NASDAQ soared 5.7 percent, while the S&P 500 spiked 4.7 percent and the Dow rallied 4.6 percent.

Stocks continued to benefit from a positive reaction to former President Donald Trump's decisive victory in the U.S. presidential election, which is expected to be positive for corporations.

Traders also continued to digest the Federal Reserve's widely expected decision on Thursday to lower interest rates by a quarter-point. But Fed Chair Jerome Powell stressed that rates are not on any preset course and the central bank will make future decisions meeting by meeting.

Oil prices fell sharply Friday on concerns about the outlook for demand due to data showing a drop in China's oil imports, and disappointment over the size of China's fresh stimulus measures. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for December sank $1.98 or 2.7 percent at $70.38 a barrel; the contract gained 1 percent in the week.