(RTTNews) - The Hong Kong stock market turned lower again on Tuesday, one session after ending the two-day slide in which it had given up more than 410 points or 1.7 percent. The Hang Seng Index now sits just beneath the 25,600-point plateau although it's tipped to open in the green on Wednesday.
The global forecast for the Asian markets is mixed to higher, thanks to support from technology stocks and easing crude oil prices. The European and U.S. markets were mixed and the Asian bourses are expected to follow suit.
The Hang Seng finished barely lower on Tuesday following losses from the financial shares and technology stocks.
For the day, the index eased 6.58 points or 0.03 percent to finish at 25,599.45 after trading between 25,431.17 and 25,768.38.
Among the actives, AIA cratered 2.03 percent, Alibaba Group added 0.47 percent, Baidu eased 0.16 percent, Bank of China lost 0.57 percent, BOC Hong Kong collected 0.25 percent, China Construction Bank fell 0.46 percent, China Life Insurance jumped 1.73 percent, China Merchants Bank shed 0.61 percent, China Mobile perked 0.12 percent, China Petroleum & Chemical was down 0.23 percent, China Shenhua Energy rallied 2.06 percent, CITIC gained 0.68 percent, CNOOC stumbled 1.90 percent, Hong Kong Exchange dropped 0.88 percent, HSBC vaulted 1.11 percent, Industrial and Commercial Bank of China retreated 1.02 percent, JD.com tanked 2.55 percent, Meituan plummeted 3.13 percent, NetEase spiked 4.30 percent, Nongfu Spring accelerated 3.38 percent, PetroChina advanced 0.74 percent, Ping An Insurance slipped 0.33 percent, Semiconductor Manufacturing surged 5.70 percent, Sun Hung Kai Properties tumbled 2.53 percent, Tencent Holdings contracted 0.54 percent, Xiaomi Corporation sank 0.80 percent, WuXi AppTec slumped 0.92 percent and Zijin Mining soared 4.43 percent.
The lead from Wall Street lacks clarity as the major averages opened higher, although the Dow quickly fell into the red and stayed that was for the balance of the session.
The Dow slumped 118.02 points or 0.23 percent to finish at 50,461.68, while the NASDAQ jumped 312.21 points or 1.19 percent to close at 26,656.18 and the S&P 500 gained 45.65 points or 0.61 percent to end at 7,519.12.
The jump by the tech-heavy NASDAQ came amid a sharp increase by shares of Micron Technology (MU) after UBS dramatically increased its price target on the company's stock.
Semiconductor stocks showed a substantial move to the upside, driving the Philadelphia Semiconductor Index up by 5.5 percent to a record closing high. Considerable strength was also visible among airline stocks,
In U.S. economic news, a report released by the Conference Board showed a modest deterioration in consumer confidence in the month of May.
Crude oil prices tumbled on Tuesday on optimism that a U.S.-Iran peace deal could soon lead to the reopening of the Strait of Hormuz. West Texas Intermediate crude for July delivery was down $2.72 or 2.82 percent at $93.88 per barrel.
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