Profit Taking May Dent Hang Seng's Upside On Wednesday

(RTTNews) - The Hong Kong stock market has climbed higher in three straight sessions, collecting almost 380 points or 2 percent along the way. The Hang Seng Index now sits just beneath the 19,750-point plateau although investors re likely to cash in on Wednesday.

The global forecast for the Asian markets is mixed to higher, supported by oil and technology stocks. The European markets were up and the U.S. bourses were mixed and the Asian markets figure to split the difference.

The Hang Seng finished sharply higher on Tuesday following gains from the financials and technology stocks, while the property sector was mixed.

For the day, the index climbed 196.03 points or 1.00 percent to finish at 19,746.32 after trading between 19,386.82 and 19,768.32.

Among the actives, Alibaba Group gained 0.54 percent, while Alibaba Health Info rose 0.27 percent, ANTA Sports lost 0.58 percent, China Life Insurance rallied 2.14 percent, China Mengniu Dairy perked 0.12 percent, China Resources Land improved 1.51 percent, CITIC advanced 1.82 percent, CNOOC strengthened 1.99 percent, CSPC Pharmaceutical fell 0.20 percent, Galaxy Entertainment increased 1.14 percent, Hang Lung Properties jumped 2.01 percent, Henderson Land spiked 2.66 percent, Hong Kong & China Gas gathered 0.17 percent, Industrial and Commercial Bank of China accelerated 2.39 percent, JD.com retreated 1.36 percent, Lenovo surged 4.06 percent, Li Auto dropped 0.79 percent, Li Ning added 0.74 percent, Meituan slumped 1.14 percent, New World Development sank 0.76 percent, Nongfu Spring tumbled 1.39 percent, Techtronic Industries soared 3.55 percent, Xiaomi Corporation climbed 1.93 percent, WuXi Biologics skyrocketed 7.87 percent and Haier Smart Home was unchanged.

The lead from Wall Street is mixed as the major averages opened slightly lower on Tuesday, although the NASDAQ and the S&P 500 were able to break into the green to record closing highs by the day's end.

The Dow sank 76.47 points or 0.17 percent to finish at 44,705.53, while the NASDAQ added 76.96 points or 0.40 percent to close at 19,480.91 and the S&P rose 2.73 points or 0.05 percent to end at 6,049.

A relatively light day on the U.S. economic front may have kept traders on the sidelines, although the Labor Department reported that job openings increased by more than expected in October.

Traders are also likely to keep an eye on reports on private sector employment, service sector activity and consumer sentiment as well as remarks by several Federal Reserve officials, including Fed Chair Jerome Powell.

The data and remarks could impact the outlook for interest rates ahead of the Fed's next monetary policy meeting later this month.

Crude oil prices rose sharply Tuesday on easing concerns about excess supply on hopes that OPEC will delay plans to return its production cuts by a few more months. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for January closed up $1.84 or 2.7 percent at $69.94 a barrel.