The Hong Kong stock market has experienced a decline for two consecutive sessions, dropping over 400 points or 2.2 percent. The Hang Seng Index now sits just below the 18,030-point mark, but it's anticipated to stabilize on Monday.
The outlook for Asian markets is generally negative, with oil and technology stocks expected to exert downward pressure. European markets closed down, while U.S. markets were mixed and flat; thus, Asian markets are likely to see a modest split in performance.
On Friday, the Hang Seng Index ended substantially lower, with significant losses across financial, real estate, and technology sectors.
For the day, the index plunged by 306.78 points, or 1.67 percent, to close at 18,028.52, trading between a low of 17,968.37 and a high of 18,240.13.
Among the active stocks: Alibaba Group fell 1.91 percent, while Alibaba Health Information rose 0.29 percent. ANTA Sports dropped 2.07 percent, China Life Insurance decreased by 0.88 percent, China Mengniu Dairy was down 1.64 percent, China Resources Land slipped 1.28 percent, CITIC sank 1.83 percent, CNOOC declined 3.19 percent, Country Garden gained 0.80 percent, CSPC Pharmaceutical fell 1.55 percent, Galaxy Entertainment shed 1.67 percent, Hang Lung Properties plummeted 4.60 percent, Henderson Land stumbled 2.08 percent, Hong Kong & China Gas dropped 2.55 percent, Industrial and Commercial Bank of China slid 1.31 percent, JD.com retreated 2.58 percent, Lenovo eased 0.66 percent, Li Ning tumbled 2.78 percent, Meituan lost 3.09 percent, New World Development plunged 3.60 percent, Techtronic Industries down 1.97 percent, Xiaomi Corporation fell 1.84 percent, and WuXi Biologics dipped 1.02 percent.
Wall Street presents a weak lead, with major averages initially opening lower on Friday and ending mixed with minimal changes.
The Dow rose by 15.53 points or 0.04 percent to close at 39,150.33, while the NASDAQ declined by 32.24 points or 0.18 percent to end at 17,689.36, and the S&P 500 fell by 8.55 points or 0.16 percent to settle at 5,464.62.
For the holiday-shortened week, the Dow increased by 1.5 percent, the S&P 500 climbed 0.6 percent, and the NASDAQ remained nearly unchanged.
Volatile trading on Wall Street was attributed to traders evaluating recent market activities that saw the NASDAQ and the S&P 500 achieve new intraday highs before declining.
Investors also monitored Nvidia (NVDA) shares closely, as the AI giant has been pivotal in driving the markets. Nvidia's stock dropped 3.2 percent on Friday after briefly surpassing Microsoft (MSFT) as the world's most valuable public company, pulling tech stocks down.
On the economic front, the National Association of Realtors reported that existing home sales in the U.S. fell roughly in line with expectations for May, while the Conference Board indicated that leading U.S. economic indicators declined more than anticipated last month.
Oil futures settled lower on Friday due to global oil demand concerns and a strong U.S. dollar. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude oil futures for July fell by $0.56 or 0.7 percent, closing at $80.73 a barrel but still recorded a 3 percent gain for the week.
