Hong Kong Stock Market May Take Further Damage On Wednesday

(RTTNews) - The Hong Kong stock market has finished lower in consecutive trading days, slumping almost 300 points or 1.2 percent along the way. The Hang Seng Index now rests just beneath the 25,680-point plateau and it's likely to open under pressure again on Wednesday. The global forecast for the Asian markets is negative on weakness among the tech shares and because of the ongoing conflict in the Middle East and its effect on oil prices. The European markets were mixed and the U.S. bourses were down and the Asian markets figure to split the difference. The Hang Seng finished modestly lower on Tuesday as losses from the financial shares and technology stocks were mitigated by support from the oil companies. For the day, the index stumbled 245.87 points or 0.95 percent to finish at 25,679.78 after trading between 25,609.61 and 25,896.66. Among the actives, AIA dipped 0.06 percent, while Alibaba Group tanked 2.84 percent, Baidu surrendered 1.91 percent, BOC Hong Kong eased 0.05 percent, China Construction Bank was down 0.11 percent, China Life Insurance tumbled 2.54 percent, China Merchants Bank fell 0.50 percent, China Mobile gained 0.30 percent, China Petroleum & Chemical sank 0.65 percent, China Shenhua Energy jumped 1.99 percent, CITIC lost 0.54 percent, CNOOC vaulted 1.90 percent, Hong Kong Exchange slumped 1.07 percent, HSBC rose 0.29 percent, Industrial and Commercial Bank of China shed 0.55 percent, JD.com declined 1.45 percent, Meituan retreated 1.89 percent, NetEase slipped 0.29 percent, Nongfu Spring dropped 0.90 percent, PetroChina rallied 1.83 percent, Ping An Insurance contracted 1.40 percent, Semiconductor Manufacturing plunged 3.22 percent, Sun Hung Kai Properties added 0.44 percent, Tencent Holdings skidded 1.00 percent, Xiaomi Corporation plummeted 3.79 percent, WuXi AppTec skyrocketed 13.57 percent, Zijin Mining stumbled 2.37 percent and Bank of China was unchanged. The lead from Wall Street is weak as the major averages opened mixed on Tuesday but all quickly tracked to the downside and finished in the red. The Dow shed 25.86 points or 0.05 percent to finish at 49,141.93, while the NASDAQ slumped 223.30 points or 0.90 percent to end at 24,663.80 and the S&P 500 sank 35.11 points or 0.49 percent to close at 7,138.80. The NASDAQ pulled back well off Monday's record closing high as companies tied to artificial intelligence infrastructure came under pressure after reports said OpenAI recently missed its own targets for new users and revenue. An extended surge by the price of crude oil also weighed on Wall Street, with U.S. crude oil futures spiking above $100 a barrel before giving ground. Crude oil prices soared on Tuesday amid the ongoing U.S.-Iran stalemate, although it gave ground later in the day following reports that Iran readied a revised peace plan. West Texas Intermediate crude for June month delivery was up $3.44 or 3.57 percent at $99.81 per barrel. The views and opinions expressed herein are the views and opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of Nasdaq, Inc.