(RTTNews) - The Hong Kong stock market has climbed higher in three straight sessions, rising almost 1,050 points or 4.2 percent along the way. The Hang Seng Index now sits just beneath the 26,040-point plateau and it's tipped to open in the green again on Wednesday.
The global forecast for the Asian markets is mildly positive on hopes for an end to hostilities in the Middle East. The European and U.S. markets were up and the Asian bourses are expected to open in similar fashion.
The Hang Seng finished sharply higher on Tuesday following gains from the financial shares and technology stocks.
For the day, the index surged 640.14 points or 2.52 percent to finish at 26,038.32 after trading between 25,394.64 and 26,045.07.
Among the actives, AIA perked 0.12 percent, while Alibaba Group spiked 6.60 percent, Baidu jumped 4.34 percent, Bank of China increased 1.72 percent, BOC Hong Kong shed 0.54 percent, China Construction Bank collected 1.52 percent, China Life Insurance slumped 1.45 percent, China Merchants Bank improved 2.15 percent, China Mobile gathered 0.88 percent, China Petroleum & Chemical was up 0.69 percent, China Shenhua Energy tumbled 2.20 percent, CITIC expanded 2.78 percent, CNOOC climbed 2.47 percent, Hong Kong Exchange elevated 2.55 percent, HSBC picked up 0.62 percent, Industrial and Commercial Bank of China advanced 2.26 percent, JD.com soared 6.85 percent, Lenovo accelerated 5.31 percent, Meituan surged 9.27 percent, NetEase added 1.23 percent, Nongfu Spring rose 1.10 percent, PetroChina declined 1.47 percent, Ping An Insurance hiked 0.73 percent, Semiconductor Manufacturing strengthened 3.15 percent, Sun Hung Kai Properties retreated 1.62 percent, Tencent Holdings skyrocketed 10.46 percent, Xiaomi Corporation vaulted 3.13 percent, WuXi AppTec gained 1.17 percent and Zijin Mining rallied 5.13 percent.
The lead from Wall Street is cautiously optimistic as the major averages were able to shake off early weakness and find modest gains on Tuesday, with all three hitting record closing highs for the third day in a row.
The Dow added 228.91 points or 0.45 percent to finish at 51,307.79, while the NASDAQ rose 7.09 points or 003 percent to close at 27,093.90 and the S&P 500 added 9.86 points or 0.13 percent to end at 7,609.82.
Stocks had benefitted from optimism for an end to the U.S.-Iran conflict in the past few sessions, but differing accounts from U.S. President Donald Trump and the Israelian Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu dampened hopes. A rebound by the price of crude oil also limited the upside.
Crude oil prices jumped on Tuesday as the U.S.-Iran Memorandum of Understanding has been delayed. Also, global energy watchdogs warn of accelerating crude oil inventory depletion. West Texas Intermediate crude for July was up $1.57 or 1.70 percent at $93.73 per barrel.
While uncertainty about the situation in the Middle East has kept some traders on the sidelines, optimism about the AI trade continues to generate positive sentiment on Wall Street.
The views and opinions expressed herein are the views and opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of Nasdaq, Inc.
