(RTTNews) – Hong Kong’s stock market has fallen in four straight sessions, falling nearly 650 points or 3.6 percent along the way. The Hang Seng Index is now just above the 18,200-point plateau, although support will emerge on Monday.
The global forecast for Asian markets is cautiously optimistic, with bargain hunting expected to support the more oversold markets. European and US markets rose and Asian markets are expected to open similarly.
The Hang Seng ended barely lower on Friday, driven by red weakness in the technology and real estate sectors.
For the day, the index fell 0.03 points or 0.00 percent to end at 18,202.07, after trading between 18,173.44 and 18,437.48.
Among active companies, Alibaba Group weakened 1.57 percent, while Alibaba Health Info plunged 3.88 percent, ANTA Sports fell 0.84 percent, China Life Insurance plunged 1.76 percent, China Mengniu Dairy fell 0.19 percent fell, China Resources Land fell 1.60 percent, CITIC retreated 1.94 percent, CNOOC rose 0.52 percent, Country Garden fell 2.07 percent, CSPC Pharmaceutical fell 0.35 percent, ENN Energy rose down 4.46 percent, Galaxy Entertainment fell 1.49 percent, Hang Lung Properties fell 1.13 percent, Henderson Land lost 1.17 percent, Hong Kong & China Gas fell 0.87 percent. percent, Industrial and Commercial Bank of China advanced 0.80 percent, JD.com tumbled 3.09 percent, Lenovo tumbled 3.36 percent, Li Ning fell 1.45 percent, Meituan surrendered 2.57 percent, New World Development lost 1.41 percent, Techtronic Industries fell 1.43 percent, Xiaomi Corporation rose 1.19 percent and WuXi Biologics fell 2.22 percent.
Wall Street’s lead signals a slight upside as the major averages opened in the green on Friday and remained in positive territory all day, although finishing well behind session highs.
The Dow Jones gained 75.89 points or 0.22 percent to close at 34,576.59, while the NASDAQ rose 12.73 points or 0.09 percent to close at 13,761.53 and the S&P 500 rose 6.35 points or 0.14 percent gained to end at 4,457.49. This week, the NASDAQ fell 1.9 percent, the S&P 500 fell 1.3 percent and the Dow Jones fell 0.8 percent.
The modest strength on Wall Street partly reflected bargain hunting, as some traders picked up stocks at lower levels after recent weakness. The NASDAQ rebound ended a four-day losing streak.
Some traders may also have felt that concerns about the interest rate outlook, which contributed to the recent weakness, were overdone.
While recent economic data has raised concerns that the Federal Reserve will leave rates higher for longer than previously expected, the central bank is still widely expected to leave rates unchanged later this month.
Crude oil prices rose on Friday on concerns about tighter oil supplies following Russia and Saudi Arabia’s decision last week to extend their supply cuts until the end of the year. West Texas Intermediate crude futures rose $0.64, or 0.7 percent, to $87.51 a barrel in October.
The views and opinions expressed herein are the views and opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of Nasdaq, Inc.