No Help Yet For Hang Seng Index

(RTTNews) - The Hong Kong stock market has finished lower in three straight sessions, sinking almost 500 points or 2 percent along the way. The Hang Seng Index now rests just above the 25,465-point plateau and it's looking at another soft start on Monday.

The global forecast for the Asian markets is soft on continuing concerns over the war in the Middle East and the resulting surge in oil prices. The European and U.S. markets were down and the Asian bourses are expected to follow to the downside.

The Hang Seng finished sharply lower on Friday following losses from the technology stocks, entertainment companies and properties, while the energy shares were up.

For the day, the index dropped 251.20 points or 0.98 percent to finish at 25,465.60 after trading between 25,419.87 and 25,697.17.

Among the actives, Alibaba Group advanced 0.68 percent, while Alibaba Health Info tumbled 1.57 percent, ANTA Sports plummeted 2.33 percent, China Life Insurance retreated 1.20 percent, China Resources Land shed 0.73 percent, CITIC added 0.27 percent, CNOOC surged 2.27 percent, CSPC Pharmaceutical lost 0.69 percent, Galaxy Entertainment declined 1.14 percent, Haier Smart Home fell 0.48 percent, Henderson Land sank 0.77 percent, Hong Kong & China Gas slipped 0.40 percent, Industrial and Commercial Bank of China collected 0.32 percent, JD.com gained 0.09 percent, Lenovo tanked 1.99 percent, Li Auto crashed 3.21 percent, Li Ning slumped 1.03 percent, Meituan skidded 0.98 percent, New World Development cratered 2.01 percent, Nongfu Spring dropped 0.92 percent, Techtronic Industries plunged 2.25 percent, Xiaomi Corporation perked 0.06 percent, WuXi Biologics stumbled 1.71 percent and China Mengniu Dairy and Hang Lung Properties were unchanged.

The lead from Wall Street is weak as the major averages opened higher on Friday but turned lower as the day progressed, slipping into the red and finishing at session lows.

The Dow dropped 119.43 points or 0.26 percent to finish at 46,558.47, while the NASDAQ tumbled 206.64 points or 0.93 percent to close at 22,105.36 and the S&P 500 sank 40.43 points or 0.61 percent to end at 6,632.19. For the week, the Dow plunged 2.0 percent, the S&P dropped 1.6 percent and the NASDAQ slumped 1.3 percent.

The pullback seen over the course of the session came as trading continued to be largely driven by reaction to crude oil prices.

Stocks initially benefited from a pullback by the price of crude oil, with crude for April delivery plunging by as much as 3.9 percent after skyrocketing over the course of the two previous sessions.

Crude oil prices again showed a substantial move to the upside on Friday as uncertainty prevails about the timeline for ending the war. West Texas Intermediate crude for April delivery was up $3.35 or 3.50 percent at $98.08 per barrel.

In economic news, the Commerce Department said the annual rate of consumer price growth unexpectedly slowed in January. A separate report from the Commerce Department showed U.S. economic growth slowed much more than estimated in the fourth quarter of 2025.