(RTTNews) – The Hong Kong stock market has moved higher in back-to-back sessions, accelerating almost 500 points or 2.4 percent along the way. The Hang Seng Index now sits just above the 23,650-point plateau and it’s expected to open in the green again on Thursday,
The global forecast for the Asian markets is slightly positive on a slightly improved outlook for interest rates. The European markets were slightly higher and the U.S. bourses were mixed and little changed and the Asian markets figure to split the difference.
The Hang Seng finished modestly higher on Wednesday as the financials, properties and technology stocks ended mostly in the green.
For the day, the index rallied 141.54 points or 0.60 percent to finish at 23,654.03 after trading between 23,481.46 and 23,716.93.
Among the actives, Alibaba Group improved 0.61 percent, while Alibaba Health Info climbed 0.88 percent, ANTA Sports jumped 1.76 percent, China Life Insurance rallied 1.87 percent, China Mengniu Dairy added 0.56 percent, CITIC sank 0.59 percent, CNOOC advanced 0.77 percent, CSPC Pharmaceutical surged 4.14 percent, Galaxy Entertainment shed 0.45 percent, Haier Smart Home gathered 0.44 percent, Henderson Land tumbled 1.21 percent, Hong Kong & China Gas slumped 1.14 percent, Industrial and Commercial Bank of China collected 0.34 percent, JD.com perked 0.08 percent, Lenovo fell 0.34 percent, Li Ning strengthened 1.33 percent, Meituan soared 3.00 percent, New World Development plummeted 4.02 percent, Nongfu Spring gained 0.52 percent, Techtronic Industries spiked 2.20 percent, Xiaomi Corporation rose 0.47 percent, WuXi Biologics accelerated 2.02 percent and Hang Lung Properties, China Resources Land and Li Auto were unchanged.
The lead from Wall Street is uninspired as the major averages opened higher on Wednesday but gave back almost off of their gains to finish mixed and flat.
The Dow dropped 91.90 points or 0.22 percent to finish at 42,427.74, while the NASDAQ gained 61.53 points or 0.32 percent to close at 19,460.49 and the S&P 500 perked 0.44 points or 0.01 percent to end at 5,970.81.
The lackluster performance followed the release of some weaker than expected U.S. economic data. While the data raised concerns about the strength of the economy, it also generated some optimism about the outlook for interest rates.
In economic news, payroll processor ADP reported much weaker than expected private sector job growth in May. Also, the Institute for Supply Management said service sector activity in the U.S. unexpectedly contracted in May.
However, the Fed is still widely expected to leave interest rates unchanged at its next meeting later this month, with CME Group’s FedWatch Tool currently indicating a 95.6 percent chance the central bank will leave rates unchanged.
Crude oil futures moved to the downside during trading on Wednesday, reflecting easing supply concerns as rains slowed the growth of blazes that had disrupted Canadian crude production. West Texas Intermediate crude for July delivery fell $0.56 or 0 .9 percent to $62.85 a barrel.
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