(RTTNews) - The Hong Kong stock market has closed lower now in two straight sessions, plummeting more than 1,100 points or 5.7 percent along the way. The Hang Seng Index fell below support at the 19,700-point plateau, but now investors are hopeful that the market can start to pick up the pieces when it kicks off trade on Monday.

The global forecast for the Asian markets is cautiously optimistic after many of the bourses suffered brutal losses at the end of last week. Firmer commodity prices - especially gold and oil - will provide support, along with technology, airline and financial stocks. The European markets ended sharply lower, while the U.S. bourses tracked slightly higher - and now the Asian markets are also predicted to move to the upside.

The Hang Seng finished sharply lower on Friday, thanks to heavy selling pressure among the financial stocks, properties and the oil companies.

For the day, the index plunged 676.56 points or 3.33 percent to finish at 19,665.08 after trading between 19,655.88 and 19,822.93 on turnover of 77.47 billion Hong Kong dollars.

Among the decliners, PetroChina shed 5.83 percent, while Shanghai Petrochemical lost 5.34 percent, China Oilfield Services fell 4.95 percent, China National Offshore Oil Corp. (CNOOC) declined 3.97 percent, China Petroleum & Chemical Corporation (Sinopec) was down 3.84 percent, HSBC shed 3.76 percent, Hang Seng Bank lost 1.28 percent, China Mobile eased 1.01 percent, Bank of China fell 4.21 percent, China Construction Bank dropped 3.01 percent, Industrial and Commercial Bank of China declined 3.16 percent, Bank of Communications retreated 4.81 percent, Cheung Kong was down 3.12 percent, SHK Properties fell 3.24 percent and Henderson Land shed 3.65 percent.

The lead from Wall Street is mildly positive as stocks were able to advance by modest margins on Friday after a significantly volatile session. The major averages closed in positive territory after spending most of the day in the red.

Stocks plunged in the early afternoon on concerns about the labor market, but the major averages staged a strong recovery amid speculation the European Union would concoct a solution to Greece's debt problems.

The recovery was also spurred by a report from the Federal Reserve showing that the contraction in consumer credit markets slowed by much more than expected. Consumer credit fell by $1.73 billion in December after a revised $21.8 billion decline in November. Economists had been expecting credit to decrease by a much more substantial $10.0 billion compared to the $17.5 billion decrease originally reported for the previous month.

Stocks saw some weakness after the Labor Department reported that non-farm payroll employment declined by 20,000 jobs in January following a revised decrease of 150,000 jobs in December. Economists had forecast employment to edge up by 15,000 jobs compared to the loss of 85,000 jobs originally reported for the previous month.

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