(RTTNews) - The Hong Kong stock market has moved lower in consecutive trading days, stumbling almost 420 points or 2.5 percent along the way. The Hang Seng Index now sits just above the 16,720-point plateau and it may take further damage on Monday.
The global forecast for the Asian markets is negative on growing pessimism over the outlook for interest rates. The European markets were mixed and the U.S. bourses were down and the Asian markets figure to follow the latter lead.
The Hang Seng finished sharply lower on Friday with damage across the board, especially among the financials, properties and technology companies.
For the day, the index plummeted 373.34 points or 2.18 percent to finish at the daily low of 16,721.69 after peaking at 17,031.31.
Among the actives, Alibaba Group surrendered 3.44 percent, while Alibaba Health Info stumbled 3.17 percent, ANTA Sports weakened 2.52 percent, China Life Insurance tanked 4.00 percent, China Mengniu Dairy plummeted 5.29 percent, China Resources Land skidded 2.49 percent, CITIC slumped 2.91 percent, CNOOC fell 1.34 percent, Country Garden plunged 4.40 percent, CSPC Pharmaceutical declined 2.94 percent, Galaxy Entertainment and Industrial and Commercial Bank of China both shed 1.97 percent, Hang Lung Properties tanked 4.03 percent, Henderson Land slid 0.63 percent, Hong Kong & China Gas dropped 2.31 percent, JD.com retreated 3.21 percent, Lenovo tumbled 3.36 percent, Li Ning plummeted 4.43 percent, Meituan sank 2.30 percent, New World Development plunged 4.02 percent, Techtronic Industries added 0.54 percent, Xiaomi Corporation rallied 2.61 percent and WuXi Biologics lost 1.42 percent.
The lead from Wall Street is brutal as the major averages opened lower on Friday and continued to trend lower throughout the day, ending neat session lows.
The Dow plummeted 475.84 points or 1.24 percent to finish at 37,983.24, while the NASDAQ tumbled 267.10 points or 1.62 percent to close at 16,175.09 and the S&P 500 sank 75.65 points or 1.46 percent to end at 5,123.41.
For the week, the Dow dropped 2.5 percent, the S&P lost 1.6 percent and the NASDAQ fell 0.5 percent.
Inflation concerns continued to weigh on the markets as the Labor Department released a report showing import prices in the U.S. increased by slightly more than expected in March, which further dampened hopes for a rate cut from the Federal Reserve in June.
Uninspired earnings and guidance also spooked investors as Citigroup, JPMorgan Chase, Wells Fargo, Intel, Amazon and Goldman Sachs all ended firmly under water.
Oil prices moved higher on Friday amid concerns about the outlook for supply due to rising tensions in the Middle East between Iran and Israel. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for May ended higher by $0.64 at $85.66 a barrel.
