The Hong Kong stock market has moved higher in two of three trading days since the end of the four-day losing streak in which it had fallen more than 925 points or 4 percent. The Hang Seng Index now rests just beneath the 23,400-point plateau, and the market may extend its gains on Wednesday.
The global forecast for the Asian markets suggests mild upside, thanks to upbeat earnings news and a bounce in the price of crude oil. The European and U.S. markets were up, and the Asian markets figure to follow that lead.
The Hang Seng finished sharply higher on Tuesday following gains from the oil companies, financials, properties and casinos.
For the day, the index surged 356.85 points or 1.55 percent to finish at 23,394.39 after trading between 23,130.20 and 23,402.89.
Among the actives, China Resources Land surged 3.35 percent, while Galaxy Entertainment soared 2.73 percent, CNOOC spiked 2.34 percent, China Petroleum and Chemical (Sinopec) advanced 2.28 percent, Industrial and Commercial Bank of China climbed 1.92 percent, CITIC jumped 1.63 percent, New World Development picked up 1.56 percent, China Life collected 1.47 percent and HSBC perked 1.64 percent.
The lead from Wall Street is positive as stocks moved higher on Tuesday, offsetting the weakness in the past few sessions.
The Dow rose 75.54 points or 0.4 percent to 18,161.94, while the NASDAQ advanced 44.01 points or 0.9 percent to 5,243.84 and the S&P 500 climbed 13.10 points or 0.6 percent to 2,139.60.
A positive reaction the latest batch of corporate results generated buying interest as the earnings season continues to pick up steam as Netflix (NFLX), UnitedHealth (UNH), IBM (IBM) and Johnson & Johnson (JNJ) all beat the street.
In economic news, the Labor Department said that consumer prices rose in line with estimates in September, while a separate report from the National Association of Home Builders showed a pullback in homebuilder confidence in October.
Crude oil futures inched back above $50 a barrel Tuesday amid reports that Russia and certain OPEC members will curb production in order to stabilize oil markets. Nov. WTI oil gained 35 cents, or 0.7%, to settle at $50.29/bbl.
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