(RTTNews) – The Hong Kong stock market has tracked higher in consecutive trading days, advancing more than 180 points or 0.7 percent along the way. The Hang Seng Index now sits just above the 24,210-point plateau although it may spin its wheels on Tuesday.
The global forecast for the Asian markets is weak thanks to renewed hostilities in the Middle East and weakness among the technology companies. The European markets were up and the U.S. bourses were down and the Asian markets figure to follow the latter lead.
The Hang Seng finished modestly higher on Monday following gains from the financial shares and a mixed picture from the technology and resource stocks.
For the day, the index improved 38.60 points or 0.16 percent to finish at 24,213.72 after trading between 24,095.73 and 24,449.77.
The lead from Wall Street is negative as the major averages opened mixed but quickly turned lower and remained under water for the balance of the session, ending near daily lows.
The Dow dropped 138.37 points or 0.26 percent to finish at 52,498.64, while the NASDAQ plummeted 408.43 points or 1.55 percent to close at 25,873.18 and the S&P 500 sank 59.92 points or 0.79 percent to end at 7,515.47.
The weakness on Wall Street followed a sharp increase by the price of crude oil amid the continued exchange of attacks between the U.S. and Iran.
U.S. Central Command said it completed a new wave of offensive strikes against Iran on Sunday, hitting dozens of targets at multiple locations with precision munitions.
Tehran responded by attacking Gulf Arab states, including Bahrain, Kuwait, Qatar, Jordan and Oman, further straining the fragile ceasefire between the two countries.
As a result, crude oil prices skyrocketed on Monday amid intense attacks between the U.S. and Iran over the weekend, renewing Middle East tensions. West Texas Intermediate crude for August delivery was up $6.87 or 9.62 percent at $78.28 per barrel.
