(RTTNews) - The Hong Kong stock market has alternated between positive and negative finishes through the last seven trading days since the end of the two-day winning streak in which it had rallied almost 500 points or 2.2 percent. The Hang Seng Index now sits just beneath the 23,290-point plateau and it's tipped to open lower again on Monday.
The global forecast for the Asian markets is soft on continuous tariff concerns, while oil stocks are likely to be weak after OPEC+ announced another production hike over the weekend. The European and U.S. bourses were mostly down and the Asian markets figure to follow that lead.
The Hang Seng finished sharply lower on Friday following losses from the technology stocks and energy companies, while the property sector was mixed.
For the day, the index plunged 283.63 points or 1.20 percent to finish at 23,289.7 after trading between 23,163.22 and 23,375.34.
Among the actives, Alibaba Group stumbled 3.56 percent, while Alibaba Health Info tanked 3.62 percent, ANTA Sports plunged 4.17 percent, China Life Insurance fell 1.11 percent, China Mengniu Dairy shed 1.23 percent, China Resources Land added 0.59 percent, CITIC skidded 1.98 percent, CNOOC eased 0.11 percent, CSPC Pharmaceutical surged 6.30 percent, Galaxy Entertainment and JD.com both weakened 2.20 percent, Haier Smart Home slumped 2.13 percent, Hang Lung Properties lost 1.12 percent, Henderson Land advanced 0.82 percent, Hong Kong & China Gas skid 0.86 percent, Lenovo plummeted 4.34 percent, Li Auto accelerated 3.79 percent, Li Ning tumbled 3.35 percent, Meituan dropped 1.50 percent, New World Development soared 3.90 percent, Nongfu Spring declined 2.78 percent, Techtronic Industries surrendered 3.57 percent, Xiaomi Corporation sank 1.45 percent, WuXi Biologics retreated 3.11 percent and Industrial and Commercial Bank of China and CLP Holdings were unchanged.
The lead from Wall Street is weak as the major averages shook off a sluggish start on Friday, posting a mild recovery midday to finish mixed and little changed.
The Dow rose 54.34 points or 0.13 percent to finish at 42,270.07, while the NASDAQ slipped 62.11 points or 0.32 percent to close at 19,113.77 and the S&P 500 eased 0.48 points or 0.01 percent to end at 5,911.69.
The early selling pressure on Wall Street came after President Donald Trump accused China of violating the trade agreement reached last month.
But bargain hunters fueled the mild recovery later in the day.
In U.S. economic news, a closely watched report release by the Commerce Department showed consumer prices in the U.S. crept slightly higher in April.
Crude suffered a weekly loss of more than 1 percent due to uncertainty over Trump's tariffs and their likely impact on global growth and fuel demand. West Texas Intermediate crude for July delivery eased $0.18 or 0.30 percent to $60.76 a barrel.
Closer to home, Hong Kong will release April data for retail sales later today; in March, sales were down 3.5 percent on year.
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