(RTTNews) – The Hong Kong stock market has finished lower in consecutive trading days, sinking almost 320 points or 1.2 percent along the way. The Hang Seng Index now rests just above the 28,225-point plateau although it may find traction on Tuesday.
The global forecast for the Asian markets is cautiously optimistic as traders suspect the geopolitical concerns in the Middle East may be overdone – while surging crude oil prices also offer support. The European markets were down and the U.S. bourses were up and the Asian markets figure to follow the latter lead.
The Hang Seng finished modestly lower on Monday as losses from the financial shares and property stocks were mitigated by support from the oil companies and a mixed picture from the insurance stocks.
For the day, the index dropped 225.31 points or 0.79 percent to finish at 28,226.19 after trading between 28,054.29 and 28,367.87.
Among the actives, CSPC Pharmaceutical plummeted 4.54 percent, while CNOOC surged 3.63 percent, AAC Technologies plunged 3.45 percent, CITIC tumbled 2.14 percent, China Life Insurance spiked 1.63 percent, Tencent Holdings skidded 1.46 percent, China Mengniu Dairy retreated 1.42 percent, Sands China climbed 1.30 percent, Galaxy Entertainment declined 1.27 percent, Industrial and Commercial Bank of China sank 1.17 percent, New World Development dropped 1.12 percent, AIA Group shed 1.06 percent, China Petroleum and Chemical (Sinopec) gained 0.63 percent, Ping An Insurance lost 0.58 percent, BOC Hong Kong fell 0.37 percent, Hong Kong & China Gas slid 0.26 percent, WH Group rose 0.25 percent, China Mobile eased 0.23 percent and Power Assets Holdings was unchanged.
The lead from Wall Street is positive as stocks opened sharply lower on Monday but bounced higher to finish in the green.
The Dow added 68.50 points or 0.24 percent to 28,703.38, while the NASDAQ gained 50.70 points or 0.56 percent to 9.071.46 and the S&P 500 rose 11.43 points or 0.35 percent to 3,246.28.
The initial weakness on Wall Street came as rising geopolitical tensions continued to weigh on the markets. Washington and Tehran continue to engage in an escalating war of words after the U.S. killed top Iranian military commander Qasem Soleimani in an airstrike last week.
Selling pressure waned shortly after the start of trading, however, as traders seem optimistic that the bluster will not amount to much and that tensions will eventually subside without a major impact on the global economy.
Crude oil prices moved higher on Monday amid concerns about possible supply disruptions due to an escalation in tensions in the Middle East. West Texas Intermediate crude oil futures for February ended up $0.22 or 0.4 percent at $63.27 a barrel.
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