Hang Seng: Resistance Expected At 26,000 Points

(RTTNews) - The Hong Kong stock market climbed higher again on Tuesday, one day after halting the two-day winning streak in which it had jumped 500 points or 2 percent. The Hang Seng Index now rests just above the 25,950-point plateau although it may be stuck in neutral on Wednesday.

The global forecast for the Asian markets is fairly flat as traders await further developments in the Middle East conflict. The European markets were up and the U.S. bourses were mixed and flat and the Asian markets are likely to follow the latter lead.

The Hang Seng finished sharply higher on Tuesday as the property stocks, technology companies and entertainment shares were mostly in the green.

For the day, the index spiked 551.44 points or 2.17 percent to finish at the daily high of 25,959.90 after trading as low as 25,611.79.

Among the actives, Alibaba Group and Lenovo both skyrocketed 3.73 percent, while Alibaba Health Info expanded 1.35 percent, ANTA Sports and CSPC Pharmaceutical both climbed 1.20 percent, China Life Insurance spiked 2.87 percent, China Mengniu Dairy dropped 1.88 percent, China Resources Land sank 0.78 percent, CITIC added 0.44 percent, CNOOC slumped 1.60 percent, ENN Energy tumbled 2.22 percent, Galaxy Entertainment elevated 1.89 percent, Haier Smart Home jumped 1.69 percent, Hang Lung Properties lost 0.44 percent, Henderson Land improved 0.69 percent, Hong Kong & China Gas strengthened 1.63 percent, Industrial and Commercial Bank of China shed 0.63 percent, JD.com accelerated 2.84 percent, Li Auto gained 0.22 percent, Li Ning advanced 0.79 percent, Meituan increased 0.51 percent, New World Development rallied 2.13 percent, Nongfu Spring vaulted 1.57 percent, Techtronic Industries soared 3.07 percent, Xiaomi Corporation fell 0.18 percent and WuXi Biologics surged 3.39 percent.

The lead from Wall Street offers little clarity as the major averages opened lower but quickly moved higher and spent most of the day in the green before a late fade saw them end mixed and little changed.

The Dow dipped 34.29 points or 0.07 percent to finish at 47,706.51, while the NASDAQ perked 1.16 points or 0.01 percent to close at 22,697.10 and the S&P 500 fell 14.51 points or 0.21 percent to end at 6,781.48.

The choppy trading on Wall Street came amid substantial volatility by the price of crude oil, with crude for April delivery plummeting almost 12 percent after soaring to nearly $120 a barrel on Monday.

Crude oil prices plunged on Tuesday after Trump said that the ongoing war would end "very soon" but provided no details. The conflict has driven oil prices to sky-high levels in recent days. West Texas Intermediate crude for April delivery tumbled $9.47 or 9.99 percent at $85.30 per barrel.

Traders also seemed to be expressing some uncertainty about the U.S. war with Iran after President Donald Trump's latest remarks about the conflict.

The president claimed in a subsequent post on Truth Social that Iran would be hit "twenty times harder" if they do anything that stops the flow of oil within the Strait of Hormuz.