(RTTNews) - The Hong Kong stock market has finished lower in six straight sessions, tumbling more than 1,020 points or 4.1 percent along the way. The Hang Seng Index now rests just beneath the 25,100-point plateau although it's due for support on Wednesday.
The global forecast for the Asian markets suggests mild upside on earnings optimism and ahead of the FOMC's monetary policy announcement later today. The European and U.S. markets were up and the Asian bourses figure to open in similar fashion.
The Hang Seng finished modestly lower on Tuesday following losses from the oil companies, while the casinos, properties and technology stocks were mixed.
For the day, the index lost 54.65 points or 0.22 percent to finish at 25,099.67 after trading between 25,030.69 and 25,639.66.
Among the actives, AAC Technologies declined 1.92 percent, while AIA Group gained 0.40 percent, Alibaba Group advanced 1.32 percent, Alibaba Health Info surged 1.66 percent, ANTA Sports sank 0.84 percent, China Life Insurance lost 0.29 percent, China Mengniu Dairy was up 0.10 percent, China Petroleum and Chemical (Sinopec) fell 0.26 percent, China Resources Land tumbled 2.15 percent, CITIC plummeted 6.36 percent, CNOOC dropped 0.82 percent, Country Garden retreated 1.71 percent, CSPC Pharmaceutical surrendered 1.95 percent, Galaxy Entertainment was down 0.24 percent, Henderson Land shed 0.46 percent, Hong Kong & China Gas and CLP Holdings both rose 0.33 percent, Li Ning tanked 2.85 percent, Longfor plunged 5.55 percent, Meituan spiked 1.35 percent, New World Development collected 0.15 percent, Sands China soared 1.49 percent, Sun Hung Kai Properties eased 0.20 percent, Techtronic Industries perked 0.12 percent, Xiaomi Corporation skidded 1.18 percent, WuXi Biologics added 0.45 percent and Industrial and Commercial Bank of China and Hang Lung Properties were unchanged.
The lead from Wall Street is positive as the major averages immediately shook off a soft open in Tuesday and moved into the green, finishing the day at fresh record highs.
The Dow climbed 138.79 points or 0.39 percent to finish at 36,052.63, while the NASDAQ gained 53.69 points or 0.34 percent to close at 15,649.60 and the S&P 500 rose 16.98 points or 0.37 percent to end at 4,630.65.
The strength that emerged on Wall Street reflected recent upward momentum, as traders reacted to another batch of upbeat earnings news from the likes of athletic apparel maker Under Armour (UAA), drugmaker Pfizer (PFE) and chemical company DuPont (DD).
Overall trading activity was subdued, however, as traders were reluctant to make significant moves ahead of the Fed announcement. The Fed is expected to announce plans to begin scaling back its $120 billion in monthly bond purchases by next month.
The language of the Fed's statement is likely to be in focus as traders look for clues about the outlook for interest rates amid concerns about the high rate of inflation.
Crude oil futures settled lower Tuesday on concerns about growth after data showed a slowdown in Eurozone manufacturing activity amid rising input costs. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for December settled at $83.91 a barrel, losing $0.14 or 0.2 percent.
The views and opinions expressed herein are the views and opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of Nasdaq, Inc.
