The Hong Kong stock market on Wednesday wrote a finish to the two-day winning streak in which it had collected almost 50 points or 0.2 percent. The Hang Seng Index now rests just beneath the 31,415-point plateau and it may extend its losses on Thursday.
The global forecast for the Asian markets is mildly negative after the U.S. Federal Reserve raised its benchmark lending rate, as expected. The European and U.S. markets were slightly lower and the Asian markets figure to follow suit.
The Hang Seng finished modestly lower on Wednesday as losses from the insurance companies and casinos were mitigated by support from the oil stocks.
For the day, the index shed 135.41 points or 0.43 percent to finish at 31,414.52 after trading between 31,381.54 and 31,978.14.
Among the actives, China Resources Land surged 5.25 percent, while Ping An Insurance plunged 3.23 percent, China Petroleum and Chemical (Sinopec) soared 2.28 percent, China Mengniu Dairy tumbled 2.00 percent, CNOOC spiked 1.93 percent, Hong Kong & China Gas jumped 1.73 percent, Lenovo Group climbed 1.70 percent, Sands China skidded 1.69 percent, China Life dropped 1.52 percent, AIA Group shed 1.24 percent, China Mobile lost 0.76 percent, Galaxy Entertainment fell 0.42 percent, New World Development advanced 0.17 percent, Industrial and Commercial Bank of China slid 0.15 percent and BOC Hong Kong collected 0.13 percent.
The lead from Wall Street is soft as stocks saw considerable volatility in afternoon trading on Wednesday before ending the session modestly lower.
The Dow shed 44.96 points or 0.18 percent to 24,682.31, while the NASDAQ lost 19.02 points or 0.26 percent to 7,345.29 and the S&P 500 fell 5.01 points or 0.18 percent to 2,711.93.
The lower close came after the Fed announced its decision to raise interest rates by 25 basis points. A firm labor market and strength in the economy compelled the Fed to raise its benchmark interest rate to a range of 1.5 percent to 1.75 percent.
Perhaps more importantly, the Fed reiterated its plan to raise interest rates gradually. The central bank continues to project three rate hikes in 2018.
In economic news, the National Association of Realtors reported a much bigger than expected increase in existing home sales in February.
Crude oil prices rose Wednesday following a drop in U.S. oil inventories, while tensions between Iran and Saudi Arabia also lifted oil prices. May WTI oil gained $1.63 or 2.6 percent to settle at $65.17/bb, the highest since early February.
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