The Hong Kong stock market experienced a downturn on Wednesday, resuming its decline after a brief respite that ended a five-day losing streak where it plunged more than 800 points or 4.6 percent. The Hang Seng Index currently hovers above the 17,100-point threshold, though it's anticipated to rebound on Thursday.
The global outlook for Asian markets is optimistic due to positive sentiment regarding potential interest rate developments. While European markets showed mixed results, U.S. markets performed well, setting a positive precedent for Asian markets to follow.
On Wednesday, the Hang Seng closed slightly lower, affected by declines in financial and property shares, with technology stocks showing mixed performance. The index diminished by 125.38 points or 0.73 percent, settling at 17,108.71 after fluctuating between 16,964.28 and 17,124.96 throughout the day.
In particular, notable movements among active stocks included Alibaba Group, which dipped 0.18 percent, and Alibaba Health Information Technology, which decreased by 0.71 percent. ANTA Sports fell sharply by 3.30 percent, while China Life Insurance and China Mengniu Dairy lost 0.54 percent and 0.97 percent respectively. China Resources Land saw a slight increase of 0.21 percent, whereas CITIC dropped 2.04 percent. CNOOC tumbled 2.30 percent, CSPC Pharmaceutical slid 0.22 percent, and Galaxy Entertainment plunged 3.46 percent. Haier Smart Home managed a strong gain of 3.94 percent. Others, like Hang Lung Properties, declined 0.74 percent. Both Henderson Land and Lenovo edged up by 0.22 percent. Hong Kong & China Gas slipped 1.14 percent, Industrial and Commercial Bank of China retreated 2.14 percent, and JD.com fell 0.49 percent. Li Auto and Li Ning stumbled significantly by 1.31 percent and 4.12 percent respectively. Meituan advanced 0.42 percent, New World Development plunged 3.98 percent, Techtronic Industries decreased by 0.96 percent, Xiaomi saw a rally of 1.61 percent, and WuXi Biologics soared 3.67 percent.
Wall Street's momentum is encouraging, as major indices rebounded from early setbacks and continued to climb, finishing near their session highs. The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose by 124.75 points or 0.31 percent to close at 40,861.71. The NASDAQ surged 369.65 points or 2.17 percent, ending at 17,395.53, and the S&P 500 rallied 58.61 points or 1.07 percent, closing at 5,554.13.
The initial sell-off on Wall Street was triggered by the Labor Department's report on consumer price inflation for August. Despite consumer prices aligning with economists' expectations, core consumer prices increased slightly more than anticipated. This initially tempered expectations of a significant 50 basis point interest rate cut by the Federal Reserve next week. However, selling pressure subsided as investors remained hopeful that the Fed would continue to lower rates in the forthcoming months.
Crude oil prices witnessed a substantial surge on Wednesday, recovering from a three-year low in the prior session. This rise was fueled by concerns over prolonged offshore production shutdowns due to Hurricane Francine. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for October increased by $1.56 or 2.37 percent, settling at $67.31 per barrel.
Closer to home, Hong Kong is set to release Q2 figures for industrial production and producer prices later today. In the previous quarter, production had increased by 1.8 percent year-over-year, and producer prices rose by 1.2 percent year-over-year.
