The Hong Kong stock market has moved lower in consecutive trading days, plummeting almost 1,100 points or 3.3 percent along the way. The Hang Seng Index now rests just beneath the 28,000-point plateau and it's expected to see continued consolidation on Wednesday.
The global forecast for the Asian markets is soft on concerns regarding the coronavirus outbreak in China. The European and U.S. markets were down and the Asian bourses figure to follow that lead.
The Hang Seng finished sharply lower on Tuesday with damage across the board - especially from the financials, properties and insurance companies.
For the day, the index plummeted 810.58 points or 2.81 percent to finish at 27,985.33 after trading between 27,980.50 and 28,492.03.
Among the actives, China Life Insurance plummeted 4.95 percent, while WH Group plunged 4.88 percent, China Resources Land tumbled 4.55 percent, Ping An Insurance skidded 4.31 percent, Galaxy Entertainment retreated 3.57 percent, New World Development declined 3.43 percent, AIA Group dropped 3.42 percent, AAC Technologies sank 3.34 percent, Sands China shed 3.19 percent, Industrial and Commercial Bank of China lost 3.10 percent, BOC Hong Kong fell 2.80 percent, China Petroleum and Chemical (Sinopec) slid 2.77 percent, CITIC dipped 2.69 percent, Tencent Holdings was down 2.68 percent, China Mengniu Dairy sank 2.64 percent, China Mobile dropped 2.48 percent, CNOOC lost 2.40 percent, Hong Kong & China Gas fell 1.64 percent and CSPC Pharmaceutical dipped 0.94 percent.
The lead from Wall Street is negative as stocks fluctuated on Tuesday before ending in the red, pulling back from last week's record closing highs.
The Dow shed 152.06 points or 0.52 percent to 29,196.04, while the NASDAQ lost 18.14 points or 0.19 percent to 9,370.81 and the S&P 500 fell 8.83 points or 0.27 percent to 3,320.79.
Stocks moved to the downside on concerns about the economic impact of the coronavirus outbreak. Chinese officials said the coronavirus outbreak has resulted in six deaths among nearly 300 confirmed cases, with the virus confirmed to be transmissible among humans.
Adding to the negative sentiment, the International Monetary Fund downwardly revised its forecast for global economic outlook on bigger than expected slowdowns in emerging markets like India.
Crude oil prices edged lower on Tuesday after the Energy Information Administration (EIA) said the sharp climb in U.S. oil production outweighed concerns about supply disruptions in Libya. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for March, slipped $0.20 or 0.3 percent to $58.38 a barrel.
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