Lower Open Called For Hong Kong Shares

(RTTNews) - The Hong Kong stock market has finished lower in two of three trading days since the end of the seven-day winning streak in which it had advanced almost 1,050 points or 4.2 percent. The Hang Seng Index now sits just above the 25,530-point plateau and it's expected to see continued consolidation on Friday.

The global forecast for the Asian markets is soft ahead of key U.S. jobs data, and on a spike in crude oil prices. The European markets were flat and the U.S. bourses were down and the Asian markets figure to split the difference.

The Hang Seng finished sharply lower on Thursday following losses from the property and technology stocks, while the financials shares came in mixed.

For the day, the index tumbled 385.54 points or 1.49 percent to finish at 25,530.28 after trading between 25,389.42 and 25,667.14.

The lead from Wall Street is weak as the major averages opened higher on Thursday but quickly slipped into the red and remained there for the balance of the day.

The Dow dropped 464.02 points or 0.85 percent to finish at 53,885.10, while the NASDAQ dipped 15.09 points or 0.06 percent to close at 16,348.35 and the S&P 500 sank 13.59 points or 0.18 percent to end at 7,709.96.

The choppy trading by the broader markets came as traders were reluctant to make significant moves ahead of the Labor Department's closely watched monthly jobs report later today.

The report is expected to show employment jumped by 88,000 jobs in July after climbing by 57,000 jobs in June, and it may have a significant impact on the outlook for interest rates.

Ahead of the release of the monthly jobs report, the Labor Department released a report showing a slight uptick in first-time claims for U.S. unemployment benefits last week.

Crude oil prices surged on Thursday following attacks on Saudi Arabian tankers in the Red Sea. West Texas Intermediate crude for September delivery was up $2.11 or 2.81 percent at $77.33 per barrel.