The Hong Kong stock market has finished lower now in three straight sessions, tumbling more than 1,260 points or 5 percent in that span. The Hang Seng Index now rests just above the 24,975-point plateau, although the market may finally stop the bleeding on Wednesday.
The global forecast for the Asian markets is cautiously optimistic after generally heavy Greek-related selling in the previous three sessions. A rebound in the price of crude oil may provide a boost, and some of the regional bourses are ripe for bargain hunting. The European markets were down and the U.S. markets were up, and the Asian markets are tipped to follow the latter lead.
The Hang Seng was sharply lower again on Tuesday following losses from the financial shares, property stocks and industrial issues.
For the day, the index dropped 260.97 points or 1.03 percent to finish at 24,975.31 after trading between 24,819.26 and 25, 439.34 on turnover of 172.48 billion Hong Kong dollars.
Among the actives, HSBC collected 0.81 percent, while Bank of East Asia shed fell 0.6 percent, Hong Kong Exchange tumbled 5.53 percent, China Mobile fell 0.67 percent, China Unicom lost 2.83 percent, Sun Hung Kai slipped 0.89 percent, Henderson Land gave away 0.67 percent, China Petroleum and Chemical (Sinopec) retreated 1.84 percent and PetroChina lost 1.29 percent.
The lead from Wall Street is positive as stocks fell sharply in early trade Tuesday but rebounded to finish higher. The Dow ended the day up 93.33 points or 0.5 percent to 17,776.91, while the S&P 500 climbed 12.58 points or 0.6 percent to 2,081.34 and the NASDAQ edged up 5.52 points or 0.1 percent to 4,997.46. Concerns about the ongoing Greek debt crisis contributed to the early weakness, although selling pressure eventually waned due in part to optimism a deal could still be reached. The Greek people voted on Sunday to reject the austerity measures proposed by the country's creditors, but negotiators are expected to make a last-ditch effort to reach an agreement over the coming days. The turnaround by stocks also came amid a rebound by the price of crude oil, which helped to lift energy stocks well off their lows. Crude for August delivery still ended the day down $0.20 at $52.33 a barrel, although it was well off its low of $50.58 a barrel. The price of oil also saw continued upside in electronic trading.
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Market Analysis
May 01, 2026 15:54 ET Central banks dominated the economics news flow this week with almost all major ones announcing their latest policy decisions and many boosted expectations for a rate hike in June. In other news, several countries released the preliminary data for first quarter economic growth. In the U.S., comments by Fed Chair Jerome Powell were also in focus as his term ends this month.