The Hong Kong stock market has climbed higher now in four straight sessions, advancing more than 1,400 points or 4.5 percent in that span. The Hang Seng Index now rests just above the 31,600-point plateau, although it's due for consolidation on Wednesday.
The global forecast for the Asian markets is broadly negative thanks to renewed geopolitical concerns and a drop in crude oil prices. The European and U.S. markets were firmly lower and the Asian bourses figure to follow suit.
The Hang Seng finished slightly higher on Tuesday as gains from the financials and utilities were capped by weakness from the casinos and oil companies.
For the day, the index gained 7.12 points or 0,02 percent to finish at 31,601.45 after trading between 31,461.47 and 31,709.99.
Among the actives, CNOOC plummeted 1.90 percent, while Hong Kong & China Gas surged 1.79 percent, WH Group plunged 1.77 percent, China Mengniu Dairy tumbled 1.71 percent, Sands China skidded 1.51 percent, CITIC spiked 1.38 percent, Galaxy Entertainment dropped 1.19 percent, China Mobile retreated 1.17 percent, Industrial and Commercial Bank of China jumped 1.14 percent, China Petroleum and Chemical (Sinopec) shed 0.77 percent, Tencent Holdings climbed 0.61 percent, Lenovo Group lost 0.48 percent, Ping An Insurance fell 0.46 percent, China Life collected 0.43 percent, BOC Hong Kong added 0.38 percent and Henderson Land was unchanged.
The lead from Wall Street is soft as stocks failed to hold a higher open Tuesday before sliding firmly into negative territory.
The Dow slid 171.58 points or 0.68 percent to 25,007.03, while the NASDAQ tumbled 77.31 points or 1.02 percent to 7,511.01 and the S&P fell 17.71 points or 0.64 percent to 2,765.31.
The weakness came amid renewed geopolitical concerns after President Donald Trump fired Secretary of State Rex Tillerson and replaced him with CIA Director Mike Pompeo.
Traders shrugged off a Labor Department report showing a modest increase in consumer prices and core CPI in February.
Crude oil futures were lower Tuesday amid expectations that U.S. oil inventories rose for a third week in a row. April WTI oil was down 65 cents or 1.1 percent to settle at $60.71/bbl.
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April 17, 2026 15:29 ET The ongoing conflict in the Middle East continues to raise concerns for policymakers who worry about the impact of the supply shock and high energy prices on the real economy. Producer price data and various survey results on the housing market were the main news from the U.S. this week. In Europe, industrial production data for the euro area gained attention. GDP figures out of China and the policy move by the Singapore central bank were in focus in Asia.