(RTTNews) - Ahead of the Lunar New Year break, the Hong Kong stock market had ended the two-day slide in which it had fallen almost 700 points or 2.7 percent. The Hang Seng Index now sits just above the 26,700-point plateau although it may hand those gains right back on Friday.
The global forecast for the Asian markets is soft on ongoing geopolitical concerns. The European and U.S. markets were down and the Asian bourses are expected to open in similar fashion.
The Hang Seng finished modestly higher on Thursday following gains from the property and oil companies, while the technology shares were mixed.
For the day, the index climbed 138.82 points or 0.52 percent to finish at 26,705.94 after trading between 26,382.41 and 26,734.41.
Among the actives, Alibaba Group sank 0.45 percent, while ANTA Sports dipped 0.18 percent, China Life Insurance spiked 1.93 percent, China Mengniu Dairy improved 0.47 percent, China Resources Land eased 0.06 percent, CITIC climbed 1.14 percent, CNOOC surged 3.71 percent, CSPC Pharmaceutical expanded 1.38 percent, Galaxy Entertainment added 0.19 percent, Haier Smart Home jumped 1.85 percent, Hang Lung Properties gained 0.10 percent, Henderson Land advanced 0.93 percent, Hong Kong & China Gas vaulted 1.57 percent, Industrial and Commercial Bank of China slid 0.16 percent, JD.com lost 0.47 percent, Lenovo increased 0.43 percent, Li Auto slipped 0.28 percent, Li Ning fell 0.37 percent, Meituan was down 0.12 percent, New World Development rallied 1.78 percent, Nongfu Spring accelerated 1.90 percent, Techtronic Industries soared 3.54 percent, Xiaomi Corporation shed 0.49 percent, WuXi Biologics strengthened 1.25 percent and Alibaba Health Info was unchanged.
The lead from Wall Street is weak as the major averages opened lower on Thursday and spent the entire session under water, ending off session lows.
The Dow stumbled 267.50 points or 0.54 percent to finish at 49,395.16, while the NASDAQ dropped70.91 points or 0.31 percent to close at 22,682.73 and the S&P 500 slipped 19.42 points or 0.28 percent to end at 6,861.89.
The weakness on Wall Street partly reflected a negative reaction to earnings news from Walmart (WMT) after the company provided weaker than expected earnings guidance for the current year.
Negative sentiment may also have been generated by a continued spike by the price of crude oil amid concerns about a military conflict between the U.S. and Iran.
However, traders seemed reluctant to make significant moves ahead of the release of closely watched readings on consumer price inflation on Friday. The data could have a significant impact on the outlook for interest rates.
Crude oil prices jumped again on Thursday amid concerns about a military conflict between the U.S. and Iran, with reports suggesting American military intervention may be imminent. West Texas Intermediate for March delivery was up $1.25 or 1.9 percent to $66.44 a barrel.
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