(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 gathered more than 230 points or 0.9 percent. The Hang Seng Index now rests just beneath the 25,060-point plateau although it's likely to rebound again on Tuesday.
The global forecast for the Asian markets is upbeat on tech shares, stimulus hopes and optimism for a coronavirus vaccine. The European and U.S. markets were up and the Asian markets are tipped to open in similar fashion.
The Hang Seng finished slightly lower on Monday following losses from the properties and casinos, support from the insurance companies and a mixed picture from the financials and oil stocks.
For the day, the index slid 31.18 points or 0.12 percent to finish at 25,057.99 after trading between 24,766.17 and 25,222.11.
Among the actives, China Life Insurance skyrocketed 8.32 percent, while Wharf Real Estate plummeted 5.86 percent, Galaxy Entertainment plunged 3.92 percent, Techtronic Industries tanked 3.02 percent, Sands China tumbled 2.52 percent, AAC Technologies surged 1.90 percent, China Resources Land soared 1.80 percent, Ping An Insurance spiked 1.71 percent, China Mengniu Dairy skidded 1.56 percent, Sun Hing Kai Properties dropped 1.29 percent, BOC Hong Kong retreated 1.10 percent, China Mobile declined 0.74 percent, CNOOC surrendered 0.70 percent, China Petroleum and Chemical (Sinopec) advanced 0.61 percent, Power Assets sank 0.59 percent, WH Group added 0.54 percent, New World Development and Hong Kong & China Gas both shed 0.53 percent, CSPC Pharmaceutical lost 0.50 percent, Tencent Holdings gained 0.29 percent, AIA Group fell 0.28 percent, Industrial and Commercial Bank of China collected 0.21 percent and Hang Lung Properties and CITIC were unchanged.
The lead from Wall Street is generally positive as stocks ended in the green, although the Dow spent much of the day in the red until breaking through late in the day.
The Dow added 8.92 points or 0.03 percent to finish at 26,680.87, while the NASDAQ surged 263.90 points or 2.51 percent to end at 10,767.09 and the S&P 500 gained 27.11 points or 0.84 percent to close at 3,251.84.
The spike by the NASDAQ came as traders got back into big-name tech stocks after the index slumped last week - with support from the likes of Amazon (AMZN), software giant Microsoft (MSFT), Google parent Alphabet (GOOGL) and tech giant Apple (AAPL).
The strength on Wall Street also came following positive results from trials of experimental COVID-19 vaccines by Oxford University and AstraZeneca (AZN) and Pfizer (PFE) and BioNTech (BNTX).
The positive news on the vaccine front came as some states continue to see spikes in coronavirus cases, with Florida reporting 12,523 new cases on Saturday, reflecting the fifth consecutive day the state reported more than new 10,000 infections.
Crude oil prices moved higher on Monday as worries about the energy demand outlook faded slightly on optimism for a potential coronavirus vaccine. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for August ended higher by $0.22 or 0.5 percent at $40.81 a barrel.
Closer to home, Hong Kong will provide June numbers for consumer prices later today, with forecasts suggesting an increase of 1.7 percent on year - accelerating from 1.5 percent in May.
The views and opinions expressed herein are the views and opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of Nasdaq, Inc.
