The Hong Kong stock market has finished higher in three straight sessions, advancing more than 850 points or 5.2 percent along the way. The Hang Seng Index now sits just beneath the 17,100-point plateau and it\'s expected to see continued strength at the open on Wednesday.
The global forecast for the Asian markets is positive on optimism over the outlook for interest rates. The European and U.S. markets were up and the Asian markets are tipped to at least open in similar fashion.
The Hang Seng finished sharply higher on Tuesday with gains across the board, especially among the financials, properties and technology stocks.
For the day, the index surged 505.93 points or 3.05 percent to finish at 17,093.50 after trading between 16,613.45 and 17,154.87.
Among the actives, Alibaba Group improved 2.82 percent, Alibaba Health Info spiked 6.91 percent, ANTA Sports jumped 4.88 percent, China Life Insurance rallied 5.00 percent, China Mengniu Dairy soared 7.18 percent, China Resources Land skyrocketed 10.49 percent, CITIC strengthened 4.78 percent, CNOOC rose 0.35 percent, Country Garden surged 8.89 percent, CSPC Pharmaceutical accelerated 5.82 percent, Galaxy Entertainment advanced 3.05 percent, Hang Lung Properties jumped 4.66 percent, Henderson Land climbed 3.74 percent, Hong Kong & China Gas gained 1.50 percent, Industrial and Commercial Bank of China collected 1.23 percent, JD.com soared 7.86 percent, Lenovo added 2.35 percent, Li Ning surged 8.07 percent, Meituan rallied 4.71 percent, New World Development improved 6.21 percent, Techtronic Industries slumped 1.16 percent, Xiaomi Corporation skyrocketed 11.34 percent, WuXi Biologics spiked 5.08 percent and CK Infrastructure was unchanged.
The lead from Wall Street is upbeat as the major averages opened flat on Tuesday but quickly moved solidly to the upside and finished comfortably in the green.
The Dow soared 235.83 points or 0.61 percent to finish at 39,005.49, while the NASDAQ surged 246.36 points or 1.54 percent to end at 16,265.64 and the S&P 500 rallied 57.33 points or 1.12 percent to close at 5,175.27.
The strength on Wall Street reflected a positive reaction to the Labor Department\'s highly anticipated report on consumer price inflation in February.
While core price growth slowed slightly less than expected, the slowdown still seems to have added to optimism about the Federal Reserve lowering interest rates in June.
The Labor Department is scheduled to release a separate report on Thursday on producer price inflation for February.
Oil futures settled lower again on Tuesday on the U.S. inflation data and persisting worries about the outlook for demand. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for April sank $0.37 at $77.56 a barrel.