Hang Seng May Spin Its Wheels On Thursday

(RTTNews) - The Hong Kong stock market has moved higher in consecutive trading days, inching up almost 75 points or 0.3 percent along the way. The Hang Seng Index now sits just beneath the 26,850-point plateau although it's expected to open in the red on Thursday.

The global forecast for the Asian markets is unclear, with technology stocks likely under pressure while oil, pharmaceutical and housing stocks offering support. The European and U.S. markets were mixed to lower and the Asian bourses figure to follow that lead.

The Hang Seng finished barely higher on Wednesday as gains from the financial shares and property stocks were offset by weakness from the technology companies.

For the day, the index perked 12.55 points or 0.05 percent to finish at 26,847.32 after trading between 26,593.18 and 27,004.22.

Among the actives, Alibaba Group skidded 0.93 percent, while Alibaba Health Info dropped 0.79 percent, ANTA Sports climbed 1.93 percent, China Life Insurance strengthened 2.03 percent, China Mengniu Dairy sank 0.65 percent, China Resources Land skyrocketed 5.41 percent, CITIC added 0.98 percent, CNOOC advanced 1.37 percent, CSPC Pharmaceutical tumbled 2.02 percent, Galaxy Entertainment rose 0.71 percent, Haier Smart Home rallied 2.58 percent, Hang Lung Properties was up 0.64 percent, Henderson Land gained 0.88 percent, Hong Kong & China Gas improved 1.20 percent, Industrial and Commercial Bank of China collected 0.78 percent, JD.com retreated 1.64 percent, Lenovo stumbled 2.18 percent, Li Auto accelerated 3.43 percent, Li Ning vaulted 2.45 percent, Meituan slumped 1.13 percent, New World Development soared 4.29 percent, Nongfu Spring spiked 2.81 percent, Techtronic Industries surged 5.28 percent, Xiaomi Corporation tanked 1.85 percent and WuXi Biologics declined 1.14 percent.

The lead from Wall Street is murky as the major averages opened mixed but quickly diverged, finally finishing the session on opposite sides of the unchanged line.

The Dow rallied 260.31 points or 0.53 percent to finish at 49,501, while the NASDAQ tumbled 350.61 points or 1.51 percent to end at 22,904.58 and the S&P 500 sank 35.09 points or 0.51 percent to close at 6,882.72.

The advance by the Dow was fueled by stocks like Amgen (AMGN), 3M (MMM) and Nike (NKE), which saw better than expected quarterly results.

Meanwhile, traders continued to rotate out of the tech sector, dragging the NASDAQ lower as semiconductor stocks showed a substantial move to the downside.

In U.S. economic news, payroll processor ADP said private sector employment in the U.S. increased by much less than expected in January. Also, the Institute for Supply Management said its reading on U.S. service sector activity came in unchanged last month.

Crude oil prices surged on Wednesday after the U.S. Energy Information Administration said inventories in the U.S. fell far more than expected. West Texas Intermediate crude for March delivery was up $1.97 or 3.12 percent at $65.18 per barrel.