The global forecast for the Asian markets is mixed to lower, with technology stocks expected to fall under strong selling pressure. 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 sharply higher on Wednesday following gains from the technology stocks, weakness from the oil companies and mixed performances from the financials and properties.
For the day, the index jumped 152.08 points or 1.00 percent to finish at 15,317.67 after trading between 15,041.40 and 15,584.06.
Among the actives, Alibaba Group tumbled 2.04 percent, while Alibaba Health Info skyrocketed 8.81 percent, ANTA Sports advanced 1.22 percent, China Life Insurance collected 0.79 percent, China Mengniu Dairy strengthened 2.96 percent, China Petroleum and Chemical (Sinopec) skidded 1.18 percent, China Resources Land plunged 4.07 percent, CITIC slumped 1.58 percent, CNOOC fell 0.31 percent, Country Garden climbed 2.54 percent, CSPC Pharmaceutical surged 5.33 percent, Galaxy Entertainment improved 1.49 percent, Hang Lung Properties plummeted 6.53 percent, Henderson Land rose 0.49 percent, Hong Kong & China Gas jumped 3.11 percent, Industrial and Commercial Bank of China sank 0.82 percent, JD.com lost 0.34 percent, Lenovo increased 1.36 percent, Li Ning gained 0.65 percent, Longfor tanked 3.95 percent, Meituan soared 5.02 percent, New World Development added 1.14 percent, Techtronic Industries spiked 3.66 percent, Xiaomi Corporation accelerated 3.51 percent and WuXi Biologics rallied 3.36 percent.
The lead from Wall Street is negative as the major averages opened lower on Wednesday, saw some strength midday but headed south as the day progressed.
The Dow managed a slight gain of 2.37 points or 0.01 percent to 31,839.11, while the NASDAQ plunged 228.12 points or 2.04 percent to close at 10.970.99 and the S&P 500 sank 28.51 points or 0.74 percent to end at 3,830.60.
The steep drop by the NASDAQ came amid a negative reaction to disappointing earnings news from tech giants Microsoft (MSFT) and Alphabet (GOOGL).
On the other hand, the slight uptick by the Dow came amid a strong gain by shares of Visa (V), which 4.6 percent after reporting better than expected third quarter results.
In economic news, the Commerce Department reported that new home sales in the U.S. pulled back sharply in September after unexpectedly skyrocketing in August, although the decrease was smaller than expected.
Crude oil prices climbed higher on Wednesday, buoyed by data showing a drop in gasoline stockpiles and a weak U.S. dollar. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for December spiked $2.59 or 3 percent at $87.91 a barrel.