The Hong Kong stock market has moved lower in two of three trading days since the end of the two-day winning streak in which it had advanced more than 450 points or 1.7 percent.The Hang Seng Index now rests just above the 28,450-point plateau and it’s looking at another soft start again on Monday.The global forecast for the Asian markets is negative thanks to geopolitical concerns in the Middle East – although surging oil prices will offer support.

The European markets were mixed on Friday and the U.S.bourses were down and the Asian markets are tipped to follow the latter lead.The Hang Seng finished modestly lower on Friday following losses from the casinos and mixed performances from the financials, properties and insurance companies.

The oil companies provided support.For the day, the index sank 92.00 points or 0.32 percent to finish at 28,451.50 after trading between 28,428.17 and 28,883.30.Among the actives, Hang Lung Properties surged 4.98 percent, while AAC Technologies plummeted 4.71 percent, Galaxy Entertainment plunged 2.97 percent, China Resources Land tumbled 2.41 percent, China Life Insurance skidded 2.27 percent, CNOOC soared 2.00 percent, CITIC sank 1.54 percent, China Petroleum and Chemical (Sinopec) advanced 1.49 percent, China Mobile retreated 1.45 percent, WH Group declined 1.33 percent, CSPC Pharmaceutical dropped 0.96 percent, Industrial and Commercial Bank of China shed 0.83 percent, Ping An Insurance perked 0.80 percent, Sands China lost 0.70 percent, AIA Group added 0.59 percent, BOC Hong Kong collected 0.37 percent, China Mengniu Dairy fell 0.31 percent, New World Development rose 0.19 percent, Tencent Holdings increased 0.16 percent, Hong Kong & China Gas eased 0.13 percent and Sun Hung Kai Properties was unchanged.

The lead from Wall Street suggests consolidation as stocks were down on Friday, pulling back from record highs in the previous session.The Dow shed 233.92 points or 0.81 percent to 28,634.88, while the NASDAQ lost 71.42 points or 0.79 percent to 9.020.77 and the S&P 500 fell 23.00 points or 0.71 percent to 3,234.85.For the week, the Dow eased 0.1 percent, the S&P fell 0.2 percent and the NASDAQ rose 0.2 percent.

The initial sell-off on Wall Street came amid rising geopolitical tensions following news a U.S.airstrike killed Iranian military leader Qassem Soleimani.The act was said to be a deterrent against future Iranian aggression, although Iranian leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei said there would be revenge.

In economic news, the Institute for Supply Management said U.S.manufacturing activity unexpectedly fell at a faster rate in December.Crude oil prices rose sharply on Friday amid the escalation in tensions in the Middle East, plus a drop in U.S.

stockpiles.West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for February ended up $1.87 or 3.1 percent at $63.05 a barrel, the highest settlement since May 20.For comments and feedback contact: [email protected] Market Analysis