Hang Seng May Extend Wednesday's Losses

(RTTNews) - The Hong Kong stock market has finished lower in two of three trading days since the end of the two-day winning streak in which it had jumped 500 points or 2 percent. The Hang Seng Index now rests just beneath the 25,900-point plateau and it may take further damage on Thursday.

The global forecast for the Asian markets is soft on continuing concerns over the war in the Middle East and surging oil prices. The European markets were down and the U.S. bourses were mixed and the Asian markets figure to split the difference.

The Hang Seng finished modestly lower on Wednesday as losses from the financial and technology sectors were mitigated by support from the property stocks.

For the day, the index fell 61.14 points or 0.24 percent to finish at 25,898.76 after trading between 25,819.10 and 26,149.64.

Among the actives, Alibaba Group lost 0.22 percent, while Alibaba Health Info tumbled 1.53 percent, ANTA Sports and Hengan International both shed 0.63 percent, China Life Insurance plummeted 2.31 percent, China Mengniu Dairy declined 0.99 percent, China Resources Land and Nongfu Spring both rose 0.13 percent, CNOOC surged 3.70 percent, CSPC Pharmaceutical plunged 2.16 percent, Galaxy Entertainment dropped 0.85 percent, Haier Smart Home eased 0.08 percent, Hang Lung Properties advanced 0.88 percent, Henderson Land perked 0.12 percent, Hong Kong & China Gas rallied 1.07 percent, Industrial and Commercial Bank of China slumped 0.96 percent, JD.com was up 0.09 percent, Lenovo soared 2.01 percent, Li Auto accelerated 1.16 percent, Li Ning stumbled 2.06 percent, Meituan tanked 2.15 percent, New World Development contracted 1.56 percent, Techtronic Industries improved 0.34 percent, Xiaomi Corporation sank 0.83 percent, WuXi Biologics retreated 1.42 percent and CITIC was unchanged.

The lead from Wall Street offers little clarity as the major averages spent much of Wednesday's trade bouncing back and forth across the unchanged line before ending mixed.

The Dow dropped 289.24 points or 0.61 percent to finish at 47,417.27, while the NASDAQ rose 19.03 points or 0.08 percent to end at 22,716.13 and the S&P 500 dipped 5.68 points or 0.08 percent to close at 6,775.80.

The recent volatility has largely been driven by big swings by the price of crude oil, which rebounded on Wednesday.

Crude oil is regained ground after the United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations said it has received reports of three vessels being struck by projectiles off Iran's coast, adding to worries about transit through the Strait of Hormuz.

Crude oil prices skyrocketed on Wednesday as the Middle East conflict fails to show any indication of calming down soon. West Texas Intermediate crude for April delivery was up $4.21 or 5.04 percent at $87.66 per barrel.

Meanwhile, traders largely shrugged off a report from the Labor Department showing consumer prices in the U.S. increased in line with estimates in February.