Soft Start Called For Hong Kong Market

(RTTNews) - The Hong Kong stock market on Tuesday wrote a finish to the three-day winning streak in which it had surged almost 850 points or 3.7 percent. The Hang Seng Index settled just above the 23,330-point plateau, and now the market is may take further damage on Wednesday.

The global forecast for the Asian markets is murky, thanks to conflicting data from the United States and slightly overbought markets that suggest profit taking. The European markets were higher and the U.S. bourses were mixed but little changed - and the Asian markets figure to follow the latter lead.

The Hang Seng finished slightly lower on Tuesday as weakness from the oil companies and entertainment stocks was mitigated by support from the telecoms and a mixed bag from the financials and properties.

For the day, the index dipped 74.88 points or 0.32 percent to finish at 23,333.69 after trading between 23,269.43 and 23, 495.62 on turnover of 78.03 billion Hong Kong dollars.

Among the actives, HSBC added 0.20 percent, while Henderson Land collected 0.29 percent, New World Development shed 0.34 percent, Galaxy Entertainment dropped 0.83 percent, Kunlun Energy lost 0.95 percent, CITIC Limited fell 1.21 percent, China Petroleum and Chemical (Sinopec) tumbled 0.95 percent, PetroChina plunged 1.49 percent and China Unicom climbed 0.96 percent.

The lead from Wall Street provides little clarity as stocks turned in a lackluster performance on Tuesday following the release of a mixed batch of U.S. economic data. Despite the choppy trading, the Dow closed above 18,000 for the first time and set a new record closing high along with the S&P 500.

The NASDAQ fell 16.00 points or 0.3 percent to 4,765.42, while the Dow climbed 64.73 points or 0.4 percent to 18,024.17 and the S&P 500 edged up 3.63 points or 0.2 percent to 2,082.17.

Early buying interest was generated by a report from the Commerce Department showing much stronger than previously estimated third quarter GDP growth. But the Commerce Department also reported an unexpected decrease in durable goods orders and new home sales.

Relatively light trading activity also contributed to the lackluster performance, as some traders got a head start on the holidays.