The Hong Kong stock market has moved lower in three straight sessions, stumbling almost 880 points or 4.2 percent along the way. The Hang Seng Index now sits just shy of the 20,290-point plateau although its due for support on Thursday.
The global forecast for the Asian markets suggests mild upside on optimism ahead of key U.S. economic data later this week. The European markets were mixed and the U.S. bourses were up and the Asian markets figure to split the difference.
The Hang Seng finished slightly lower on Wednesday as losses from the technology and oil companies were offset by gains from the financials and properties.
For the day, the index eased 31.94 points or 0.16 percent to finish at 20,286.85 after trading between 20,131.34 and 20,548.18.
Among the actives, Alibaba Group lost 0.90 percent, while Alibaba Health Info retreated 2.26 percent, ANTA Sports tumbled 2.54 percent, China Life Insurance eased 0.13 percent, China Mengniu Dairy dropped 1.24 percent, China Resources Land soared 2.49 percent, CITIC climbed 1.00 percent, CNOOC shed 1.04 percent, CSPC Pharmaceutical sank 1.12 percent, Galaxy Entertainment plummeted 4.05 percent, Haier Smart Home slumped 1.91 percent, Hang Lung Properties advanced 0.90 percent, Henderson Land surged 2.58 percent, Hong Kong & China Gas gained 0.33 percent, Industrial and Commercial Bank of China rallied 1.06 percent, JD.com plunged 3.12 percent, Lenovo added 0.73 percent, Li Auto fell 0.61 percent, Li Ning declined 1.95 percent, Meituan jumped 1.41 percent, New World Development spiked 1.74 percent, Nongfu Spring stumbled 2.49 percent, Techtronic Industries slid 0.18 percent, Xiaomi Corporation skidded 1.30 percent and WuXi Biologics tanked 2.85 percent.
The lead from Wall Street is upbeat as the major averages opened mixed on Wednesday but quickly headed higher and finished well in positive territory.
The Dow rallied 337.28 points or 0.79 percent to finish at 43,077.70, while the NASDAQ gained 51.49 points or 0.28 percent to close at 18,367.08 and the S&P 500 added 27.21 points or 0.47 percent to end at 5,842.47.
The strength that emerged on Wall Street came on continued optimism about the strength of the U.S. economy ahead of the release of several key reports later this week including weekly jobless claims, retail sales and industrial production.
In economic news, the Labor Department released a report showing a continued decrease by prices for U.S. imports and exports in September.
Oil futures settled lower on Wednesday, weighed down by concerns about weak demand from China and easing geopolitical worries. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for November ended down $0.19 at $70.39 a barrel.