(RTTNews) - The Hong Kong stock market has finished lower in four straight sessions, tumbling more than 1,730 points or 10.7 percent along the way. The Hang Seng Index now sits just above the 15,180-point plateau although it's likely to rebound on Tuesday.
The global forecast for the Asian markets continues to be upbeat on optimism over the outlook for interest rates. The European and U.S. markets were up and the Asian bourses are expected to open in similar fashion.
The Hang Seng finished with huge losses on Monday with damage in all sectors, especially the properties and technology stocks.
For the day, the index plummeted 1,030.43 points or 6.36 percent to finish at 15,180.69 after trading between 15,082.84 and 15,993.88.
Among the actives, Alibaba Group tanked 11.42 percent, while Alibaba Health Info plummeted 14.85 percent, ANTA Sports declined 7.56 percent, China Life Insurance surrendered 7.84 percent, China Mengniu Dairy stumbled 5.50 percent, China Petroleum and Chemical (Sinopec) fell 2.31 percent, China Resources Land tumbled 8.99 percent, CITIC was down 1.22 percent, CNOOC dipped 1.91 percent, Country Garden plunged 14.21 percent, CSPC Pharmaceutical sank 3.17 percent, Galaxy Entertainment surrendered 7.91 percent, Hang Lung Properties retreated 7.48 percent, Henderson Land skidded 3.74 percent, Hong Kong & China Gas slid 2.09 percent, Industrial and Commercial Bank of China shed 2.69 percent, JD.com tanked 13.17 percent, Lenovo dropped 3.29 percent, Li Ning slumped 7.12 percent, Longfor plummeted 15.08 percent, Meituan plunged 14.83 percent, New World Development lost 2.39 percent, Techtronic Industries jumped 2.29 percent, Xiaomi Corporation tumbled 8.65 percent and WuXi Biologics declined 7.71 percent.
The lead from Wall Street is upbeat as the major averages shook off early directionless trade on Monday but steamed higher in the afternoon to finish firmly in the green.
The Dow soared 417.06 points or 1.34 percent to finish at 31,499.62, while the NASDAQ spiked 92.90 points or 0.86 percent to end at 10,952.61 and the S&P 500 jumped 44.59 points or 1.19 percent to close at 3,797.34.
The strength that emerged on Wall Street partly reflected optimism the Federal Reserve will signal a slowdown in monetary policy tightening following its meeting next week.
The Fed is widely expected to raise interest rates by another 75 basis points next week, but traders are hopeful the central bank will indicate plans to slow the pace of rates hikes beginning in December.
Crude oil prices moved lower on Monday, giving ground following the advance seen last Friday. The pullback reflected lingering concerns about the outlook for global demand, particularly in China. West Texas Intermediate crude for December delivery fell $0.47 or 0.6 percent to $84.58 a barrel.
Closer to home, Hong Kong will release September figures for imports, exports and trade balance later today. In August, imports were down 16.3 percent on year, exports sank 14.3 percent and the trade deficit was HKD13.3 billion.
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