The Hong Kong stock market has finished lower in three straight sessions, tumbling almost 1,100 points or 3.8 percent along the way. The Hang Seng Index now sits just shy of the 27,920-point plateau and it's got a negative lead again on Thursday.
The global forecast for the Asian markets suggests consolidation, with the volatile technology stocks in particular expected to weigh. The European markets were mixed and the U.S. bourses were down and the Asian markets figure to split the difference.
The Hang Seng finished sharply lower on Wednesday following losses across the board - especially from the technology stocks, casinos and oil companies.
For the day, the index plummeted 579.24 points or 2.03 percent to finish at 27,918.14 after trading between 27,827.05 and 28,457.87.
Among the actives, AAC Technologies plunged 4.18 percent, while AIA Group skidded 3.74 percent, Alibaba Health Info surrendered 2.63 percent, ANTA Sports plummeted 4.93 percent, China Life Insurance slipped 0.86 percent, China Mengniu Dairy shed 2.11 percent, China Petroleum and Chemical (Sinopec) lost 1.97 percent, China Resources Land eased 0.13 percent, CITIC weakened 0.15 percent, CNOOC fell 1.82 percent, CSPC Pharmaceutical dropped 2.28 percent, Galaxy Entertainment declined 2.81 percent, Hong Kong & China Gas was down 0.66 percent, Industrial and Commercial Bank of China dipped 1.46 percent, Meituan tumbled 3.88 percent, New World Development retreated 3.31 percent, Sands China tanked 4.12 percent, Techtronic Industries slid 1.59 percent, Xiaomi Corporation sank 2.53 percent, WuXi Biologics added 0.63 percent and Alibaba Group and Longfor Group were unchanged.
The lead from Wall Street is negative as the major averages opened higher on Wednesday but then headed south and eventually finished in the red.
The Dow eased 3.09 points or 0.01 percent to finish at 32,420.06, while the NASDAQ plummeted 265.81 points or 2.01 percent to end at 12,961.89 and the S&P 500 lost 21.38 points or 0.55 percent to close at 3,889.14.
Lingering concerns about the outlook for high-growth companies contributed to the sell-off by technology stocks, which have seen considerable volatility in recent sessions.
Unlike previous sessions, the weakness in the tech sector came amid a continued pullback by treasury yields. The yield on the benchmark ten-year note moved lower for the third straight day and has now fallen 14 basis points since reaching a fourteen-month intraday high last Thursday.
In economic news, the Commerce Department said new orders for U.S. manufactured durable goods unexpectedly decreased in February.
Crude oil futures surged on Wednesday after a container ship got struck in the Suez Canal and raised concerns about possible supply disruptions. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for May ended up $3.42 or 5.9 percent at $61.18 a barrel.
Closer to home, Hong Kong will on Thursday release February figures for imports later today. In January, imports were up 37.7 percent on year and exports surged an annual 44 percent for a trade deficit of HKD25.2 billion.
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