(RTTNews) - The Hong Kong stock market has finished higher in three straight sessions, gathering almost 300 points or 0.8 percent along the way. The Hang Seng Index now rests just above the 29,030-point plateau and it's tipped to open higher again on Thursday.
The global forecast for the Asian markets is positive following upbeat guidance from the FOMC. The European markets were mixed and the U.S. bourses were up and the Asian markets figure to follow the latter lead.
The Hang Seng finished barely higher on Wednesday following gains from the casinos, weakness from the oil companies and mixed performances from the properties and technology stocks.
For the day, the index rose 6.43 points or 0.02 percent to finish at 29,034.12 after trading between 28,780.23 and 29,180.01.
Among the actives, AAC Technologies advanced 0.47 percent, while AIA Group was up 0.10 percent, Alibaba Group jumped 0.54 percent, ANTA Sports rallied 0.58 percent, BOC Hong Kong slid 0.17 percent, China Life Insurance dropped 0.24 percent, China Mengniu Dairy soared 3.98 percent, China Petroleum and Chemical (Sinopec) plummeted 2.68 percent, China Resources Land accelerated 1.05 percent, CITIC eased 0.15 percent, CNOOC plunged 1.32 percent, CSPC Pharmaceutical lost 0.20 percent, Galaxy Entertainment surged 4,61 percent, Hang Lung Properties rose 0.21 percent, Henderson Land skidded 0.88 percent, Hong Kong & China Gas climbed 0.51 percent, Meituan tanked 1.27 percent, New World Development shed 0.23 percent, Ping An Insurance tumbled 1.23 percent, Sands China added 0.38 percent, Sun Hung Kai Properties gained 0.26 percent, Techtronic Industries sank 0.37 percent, Xiaomi Corporation fell 0.19 percent, WuXi Biologics spiked 1.70 percent and Industrial and Commercial Bank of China and Hengan International were unchanged.
The lead from Wall Street is firm as stocks moved higher Wednesday following the FOMC's guidance, sending the Dow and S&P 500 to fresh record closing highs.
The Dow jumped 189.42 points or 0.58 percent to finish at 33,015.37, while the NASDAQ gained 53.63 points or 0.40 percent to end at 13,525.20 and the S&P 500 rose 11.41 points or 0.29 percent to close at 3,974.12.
The higher close on Wall Street came after the Federal Reserve forecast stronger economic growth and higher inflation this year but indicated it expects to keep interest rates at near-zero levels through 2023.
The Fed provided updated forecasts along with the announcement of the its universally expected decision to maintain the target range for the federal funds rate at zero to 0.25 percent.
The central bank also reiterated it plans to continue purchasing bonds at a rate of at least $120 billion per month until "substantial further progress" has been made toward its policy goals.
Crude oil futures settled lower on Wednesday, weighed down by another jump in U.S. crude stockpiles and concerns over the outlook for energy demand. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for April ended down $0.20 or 0.3 percent at $64.60 a barrel.
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