(RTTNews) – The Hong Kong stock market has finished higher in three straight trading days, collecting more than 800 points or 3.6 percent in that span. The Hang Seng Index now sits just above the 23,615-point plateau and it’s got another green light for Tuesday’s trade.
The global forecast for the Asian markets is mixed to higher, with support expected from the technology and oil stocks. The European markets were mixed and the U.S. bourses were up and the Asian markets figure to split the difference.
The Hang Seng finished sharply higher on Monday following gains from the financial shares and technology stocks.
For the day, the index climbed 266.29 points or 1.14 percent to finish at 23,616.32 after trading between 23,229.38 and 23,686.56.
Among the actives, AIA Group and PetroChina both improved 1.02 percent, while Alibaba Group jumped 1.97 percent, Baidu and BYD both fell 0.36 percent, Bank of China perked 0.21 percent, BOC Hong Kong shed 0.60 percent, China Construction Bank collected 0.90 percent, China Life Insurance spiked 3.94 percent, China Merchants Bank accelerated 2.62 percent, China Mobile gained 0.59 percent, China Petroleum and Chemical (Sinopec) added 0.74 percent, China Shenhua Energy rallied 2.55 percent, CNOOC slumped 0.66 percent, Hong Kong & China Exchange & Clearing rose 0.37 percent, JD.com advanced 1.25 percent, Lenovo plummeted 3.94 percent, Meituan soared 4.68 percent, NetEast expanded 1.46 percent, Nongfu Spring slipped 0.29 percent, Ping An Insurance vaulted 1.54 percent, Semiconductor Manufacturing tumbled 2.38 percent, Sun Hung Kai Properties eased 0.17 percent, Tencent Holdings surged 4.82 percent, Xiaomi Corporation climbed 1.39 percent, WuXi AppTec lost 0.38 percent, Zijin Mining strengthened 1.56 percent and Industrial and Commercial Bank of China, CITIC and HSBC were unchanged.
The lead from Wall Street is firm as the major averages opened higher on Monday and largely spent most of the day in the green, ending near daily highs.
The Dow climbed 155.84 points or 0.29 percent to finish at a record 53,055.91, while the NASDAQ jumped 288.49 points or 1.12 percent to close at 26,121.16 and the S&P 500 gained 54.19 points or 0.72 percent to end at 7,537.43.
The upward move on Wall Street came amid strength among technology stocks, with computer hardware stocks turning in some of the best performances as the NYSE Arca Computer Hardware Index shot up by 3.4 percent.
Substantial strength was also visible among networking and semiconductor stocks, with the NYSE Arca Networking Index and the Philadelphia Semiconductor Index surging by 2.8 percent and 2.2 percent, respectively.
In U.S. economic news, the Institute for Supply Management said growth in U.S. service sector activity slowed slightly in June, although it was in line with expectations.
Crude oil prices ticked lower on Monday as oil tanker traffic across the Strait of Hormuz increased gradually, while the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) agreed to increase output. West Texas Intermediate crude for August delivery was down $0.15 or 0.22 percent at $68.54 per barrel.
