FX.co ★ Hong Kong Shares Overdue For Consolidation On Tuesday

The Hong Kong stock market has consistently shown steady, upwards momentum over six consecutive sessions, accumulating nearly 1,570 points or a gain of 9.2%. The Hang Seng Index is inching towards the 17,750-point plateau, with market speculators anticipating that it will continue its upward trend at least into opening trade on Tuesday.

Globally, the forecast for Asian markets seems solid, if not slightly bullish, as investors eagerly await the Federal Open Market Committee's policy announcement on Wednesday. Though European markets were soft, the U.S. markets notched minor gains, and the Asian markets seem set to follow suit.

In the trading on Monday, the Hang Seng finished with modest gains buoyed by the performance of financial and property stocks, while the technology sector showed a mixed bag. The index progressed 95.76 points or 0.54% to close at 17,746.81, swaying between 17,679.19 and 18,031.16 throughout the day.

In other action, Alibaba Group slipped 1.26% while Alibaba Health Info and China Life Insurance experienced an upward curve with gains of 2.71% and 2.33% respectively. Meanwhile, Country Garden saw an unprecedented surge of 11.00%, and Hong Kong & China Gas saw a modest increase of 0.17%.

From Wall Street, minor gains are projected as the major averages started off strong, leading to a slightly higher close. The Dow Jones Industrial Average jumped 0.38% to bag 146.43 points, finishing at 38,386.09, while the NASDAQ advanced by 0.35% adding 55.18 points to close at 15,983.08, and the S&P 500 increased by 16.21 points or 0.32%.

The uptick in Wall Street was in large part fuelled by a positive response to the promising tech earnings reported last week. However, traders maintained a cautious approach in anticipation of the Federal Reserve's monetary policy announcement this Wednesday; while it's widely believed interest rates won't change, investors are keen to learn about the long-term outlook for rates.

The oil market, however, witnessed a slump as West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for June ended lower by $1.22 or 1.45% at $82.63 a barrel amid concerns about future oil demand and potential delays in the Federal Reserve's interest rate cuts.