(RTTNews) - The Hong Kong stock market has moved lower in four straight sessions, slumping almost 1,300 points or 5.5 percent along the way. The Hang Seng Index now sits just above the 24,650-point plateau although it's overdue for support on Tuesday. The global forecast for the Asian markets is cautiously optimistic on bargain hunting, with support expected especially among the technology and oil sectors. The European markets were soft and the U.S. bourse were mostly higher and the Asian markets figure to follow the latter lead. The Hang Seng finished sharply lower on Monday following losses from the property stocks and technology companies, while the financials offered support. For the day, the index retreated 304.89 points or 1.22 percent to finish at 24,657.06 after trading between 24,458.54 and 24,837.98. Among the actives, AIA declined 1.82 percent, while Alibaba Group tanked 2.94 percent, Baidu cratered 7.64 percent, Bank of China climbed 0.94 percent, BOC Hong Kong added 0.89 percent, China Construction Bank collected 0.46 percent, China Life Insurance stumbled 1.86 percent, China Merchants Bank eased 0.04 percent, China Petroleum & Chemical sank 0.75 percent, China Shenhua Energy advanced 0.91 percent, CITIC gained 0.81 percent, CNOOC rallied 1.96 percent, Hong Kong Exchange tumbled 2.42 percent, HSBC rose 0.35 percent, Industrial and Commercial Bank of China jumped 1.46 percent, JD.com retreated 1.99 percent, Lenovo Group dropped 1.29 percent, Meituan crashed 4.63 percent, NetEase shed 0.37 percent, Nongfu Spring perked 0.05 percent, PetroChina vaulted 1.33 percent, Ping An Insurance fell 0.09 percent, Semiconductor Manufacturing plunged 4.10 percent, Sun Hung Kai Properties contracted 1.74 percent, Tencent Holdings skidded 1.50 percent, Xiaomi Corporation slumped 1.51 percent, WuXi AppTec surrendered 2.57 percent, Zijin Mining plummeted 4.25 percent and China Mobile was unchanged.
The lead from Wall Street suggests mild upside as the major averages opened higher on Monday but faded as the day progressed, with the Dow slipping into the red.
The Dow shed 80.77 points or 0.16 percent to finish at 50,786.01, while the NASDAQ jumped 220.23 points or 0.86 percent to close at 25,929.66 and the S&P 500 added 21.99 points or 0.30 percent to end at 7,405.73.
The rebound on Wall Street comes amid bargain hunting following last Friday's plunge, which dragged the tech-heavy NASDAQ down to its lowest closing level in a month.
The upside may be limited by growing concerns about the outlook for interest rates, as last week's robust U.S. jobs report led traders to ramp up bets on a Federal Reserve rate hike this year.
Crude oil prices edged higher on Monday as delays in the reopening the Strait of Hormuz persists. West Texas Intermediate crude for July delivery was up $0.52 or 0.57 percent at $91.06 per barrel.
The views and opinions expressed herein are the views and opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of Nasdaq, Inc.
