Hang Seng May Halt Its Slide On Friday

(RTTNews) - The Hong Kong stock market has moved lower in two straight sessions, slumping almost 800 points or 3.1 percent along the way. The Hang Seng Index now sits just above the 25,250-point plateau although it's due for support on Friday.

The global forecast for the Asian markets is mostly positive on easing oil prices and optimism for an end to hostilities in the Middle East. The European markets were up and the U.S. bourse were mostly higher and the Asian markets are also tipped to move to the upside.

The Hang Seng finished sharply lower on Thursday following losses from the financial shares, property stocks and technology companies.

For the day, the index declined 379.81 points or 1.48 percent to finish at 25,253.40 after trading between 25,188.02 and 25,499.09.

Among the actives, AIA cratered 6.75 percent, while Alibaba Group crashed 2.45 percent, Baidu surrendered 2.11 percent, Bank of China dipped 0.38 percent, BOC Hong Kong sank 0.80 percent, China Construction Bank was down 0.23 percent, China Life Insurance collected 0.36 percent, China Merchants Bank and NetEase both lost 0.50 percent, China Mobile skidded 0.94 percent, China Petroleum & Chemical slipped 0.46 percent, China Shenhua Energy fell 0.49 percent, CITIC climbed 1.39 percent, CNOOC dropped 0.88 percent, Hong Kong Exchange tumbled 2.10 percent, HSBC gave up 0.34 percent, JD.com eased 0.09 percent, Lenovo Group plummeted 4.36 percent, Meituan tanked 2.24 percent, Nongfu Spring slumped 1.15 percent, PetroChina contracted 1.31 percent, Ping An Insurance weakened 1.30 percent, Semiconductor Manufacturing retreated 1.75 percent, Sun Hung Kai Properties slid 0.40 percent, Tencent Holdings declined 1.59 percent, Xiaomi Corporation shed 0.70 percent, WuXi AppTec stumbled 1.91 percent, Zijin Mining plunged 2.69 percent and Industrial and Commercial Bank of China was unchanged.

The lead from Wall Street is cautiously optimistic as the major averages opened mixed on Thursday and then tracked steadily higher throughout the day but still ended on opposite sides of the line.

The Dow soared 874.86 points or 1.73 percent to finish at a record 51,561.93, while the NASDAQ dipped 23.02 points or 0.09 percent to close at 26,830.96 and the S&P 500 added 30.63 points or 0.41 percent to end at 7,584.31.

The rebound by the Dow reflected a spike by shares of UnitedHealth (UNH) following an upgrade by Bank of America. Dow components American Express (AXP), Goldman Sachs (GS) and Merck (MRK) also posted strong gains.

The NASDAQ climbed well off its worst levels but still ended the day modestly lower amid weakness among technology stocks.

A steep drop by shares of Broadcom (AVGO) weighed on the tech sector, despite fiscal Q2 earnings that exceeded estimates although the company failed to raise its full-year forecast of $100 billion in AI chip sales.

Crude oil prices plunged on Wednesday on hopes of de-escalation in the Middle East following an Israel-Lebanon ceasefire announcement. West Texas Intermediate crude for July delivery was down $3.00 or 3.12 percent at $93.02 per barrel.