The Hong Kong stock market saw an end to its three-day streak of gains last Friday, during which it had soared by nearly 1,260 points, or 8.3%. The Hang Seng Index currently rests just above the 15,950-point threshold, and it might continue its decline this Monday.
The global forecast for the Asian markets is rather unclear ahead of the impending FOMC rate decision and announcement, as well as various company earnings reports due this week. While European markets saw an increase, the U.S. markets displayed mixed results, a trend the Asian markets are likely to follow.
Last Friday, the Hang Seng finished significantly lower across all sectors, with notable losses among financial, property, and technology companies.
During the trading day, the index plunged by 259.77 points, or 1.60%, closing at 15,952.23, after varying between 15,888.04 and 16,240.96 throughout the day.
Active players such as Alibaba Group saw a 3.34% decrease, Alibaba Health Info dropped 2.76%, ANTA Sports fell 0.92%, JD.com dipped 2.30%, Lenovo plunged a whopping 9.94%, and Xiaomi Corporation tanked 3.93%. Other companies like China Mengniu Dairy, Techtronic Industries, CK Infrastructure, Henderson Land, and Haier Smart Home remained steady.
Wall Street's lead offers limited guidance, with major U.S. indexes opening lower last Friday, seeing a midday rally, but falling again towards the end of the day to finish mixed overall.
The Dow rose 60.33 points, or 0.16%, closing at 38,109.43, while the NASDAQ fell by 55.14 points, or 0.36%, to finish at 15,455.36, and the S&P 500 modestly dropped 3.19 points, or 0.07%, ending at 4,890.97.
Investors are also closely watching the Federal Reserve's monetary policy announcement this week. Although it's widely anticipated that the interest rates will stay the same, traders will be keen on any hints concerning future rate cuts.
Optimism was seen in crude oil futures last Friday, thanks to encouraging U.S. economic data and fresh stimulus from the Chinese central bank. This pushed West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures up $0.65 or 0.84%, closing at $78.01 a barrel, a 6% increase over the week.
