Hang Seng May Extend Wednesday's Gains

The Hong Kong stock market on Wednesday wrote a finish to the two-day slide in which it had stumbled more than 350 points or 1.7 percent. The Hang Seng Index now sits just above the 19,160-point plateau and it may see additional support on Thursday.

The global forecast for the Asian markets is broadly positive on bargain hunting and expectations for solid earnings news. The European and U.S. markets were sharply higher and the Asian bourses figure to follow suit.

The Hang Seng finished modestly higher on Wednesday as gains from the financial shares and technology stocks were limited by weakness from the property sector.

For the day, the index gained 65.69 points or 0.34 percent to finish at 19,160.49 after trading between 19,063.30 and 19,255.74.

Among the actives, Alibaba Group gained 0.48 percent, while Alibaba Health Info rallied 2.08 percent, ANTA Sports fell 0.15 percent, China Life Insurance jumped 1.67 percent, China Resources Land rose 0.15 percent, CITIC and CNOOC both dropped 0.51 percent, Country Garden added 0.54 percent, CSPC Pharmaceutical eased 0.12 percent, Galaxy Entertainment advanced 0.60 percent, Haier Smart Home surged 2.92 percent, Hang Lung Properties declined 1.08 percent, Hong Kong & China Gas tumbled 1.62 percent, Industrial and Commercial Bank of China collected 0.79 percent, JD.com sank 0.64 percent, Lenovo strengthened 0.97 percent, Li Ning soared 2.61 percent, Meituan retreated 0.74 percent, New World Development tanked 2.06 percent, Techtronic Industries plunged 2.12 percent, WuXi Biologics spiked 2.50 percent and China Mengniu Dairy, Henderson Land and Xiaomi Corporation were unchanged.

The lead from Wall Street is upbeat as the major averages opened higher on Wednesday and remained solidly in the green throughout the session.

The Dow surged 526.74 points or 1.60 percent to finish at 33,376.48, while the NASDAQ spiked 162.26 points or 1.54 percent to end at 10,709.37 and the S&P 500 jumped 56.82 points or 1.49 percent to close at 3,878.44.

The rally on Wall Street came as stocks continued to benefit from bargain hunting and upbeat earnings news from companies like Nike (NKE) and FedEx (FDX).

In economic news, the Conference Board reported a significant improvement in U.S. consumer confidence in December. But the National Association of Realtors noted a continued slump in U.S. existing home sales in November.

Crude oil prices rose sharply on Wednesday after data showed a larger than expected drop in U.S. crude inventories last week. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for February ended higher by $2.06 at $78.29 a barrel.

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