(RTTNews) - The Hong Kong stock market on Friday halted the three-day winning streak in which it had added more than 110 points or 0.4 percent. The Hang Seng Index now sits just above the 26,550-point plateau although it's likely to see renewed support on Monday.
The global forecast for the Asian markets is upbeat, with bargain hunting among the technology companies likely to lead the markets higher. The European and U.S. markets were firmly higher and the Asian markets are expected to follow that lead.
The Hang Seng finished sharply lower on Friday following losses from the insurance, property and technology sectors.
For the day, the index stumbled 325.29 points or 1.21 percent to finish at 26,559.95 after trading between 26,295.03 and 26,710.34.
Among the actives, Alibaba Group plummeted 2.88 percent, while Alibaba Health Info retreated 1.61 percent, ANTA Sports rose 0.19 percent, China Life Insurance declined 1.46 percent, China Mengniu Dairy soared 3.03 percent, China Resources Land shed 1.00 percent, CITIC climbed 1.14 percent, CNOOC jumped 1.87 percent, CSPC Pharmaceutical lost 0.82 percent, Galaxy Entertainment gained 0.23 percent, Haier Smart Home stumbled 1.82 percent, Hang Lung Properties and Xiaomi Corporation both advanced 0.74 percent, Henderson Land slumped 1.42 percent, Hong Kong & China Gas sank 1.05 percent, Industrial and Commercial Bank of China collected 0.46 percent, JD.com tumbled 1.75 percent, Lenovo slipped 0.64 percent, Li Auto surged 3.61 percent, Li Ning fell 0.65 percent, Meituan plunged 2.56 percent, New World Development tanked 2.45 percent, Nongfu Spring skidded 1.18 percent, Techtronic Industries dropped 1.15 percent, WuXi Biologics added 0.43 percent and CK Infrastructure was unchanged.
The lead from Wall Street is broadly positive as the major averages opened firmly higher on Friday and continued to accelerate throughout the day, ending at session highs.
The Dow surged 1,206.97 points or 2.47 percent to finish at a record 50,115.67, while the NASDAQ soared 490.61 points or 2.18 percent to close at 23,031.21 and the S&P 500 jumped 133.90 points or 1.97 percent to end at 6,932.30.
For the week, the Dow rallied 2.5 percent, while the S&P dipped 0.1 percent and the NASDAQ fell 1.8 percent.
The rally on Wall Street reflected bargain hunting as traders looked to pick up stocks at reduced levels following the recent weakness, especially among the technology shares that had dragged the NASDAQ to its lowest close in two months.
Airline stocks showed a substantial move to the upside on the day, as did computer hardware and semiconductor stocks. A sharp increase by the price of gold also provided significant strength to the markets.
Crude oil moved higher on Friday after the U.S. issued an advisory telling its citizens to depart from Iran, further stoking concerns of war. West Texas Intermediate crude for March delivery was up $0.20 or 0.32 percent at $63.49 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.
