(fxcue news) - The Hong Kong stock market has moved higher in three straight sessions, improving more than 260 points or 1.5 percent in that span. The Hang Seng Index now rests just beneath the 17,980-point plateau and it's looking at a firm open again on Thursday. The global forecast for the Asian markets is firm on an improved outlook for interest rates. The European markets were up and the U.S. bourses were mixed and the Asian markets figure to split the difference. The Hang Seng finished sharply higher on Wednesday following gains from the utilities, property stocks and technology companies. For the day, the index jumped 209.47 points or 1.18 percent to finish at 17,978.57 after trading between 17,808.27 and 18,017.76. Among the actives, Alibaba Group jumped 2.48 percent, while Alibaba Health Info accelerated 3.23 percent, ANTA Sports perked 0.34 percent, China Life Insurance collected 1.40 percent, China Mengniu Dairy spiked 3.43 percent, China Resources Land soared 3.47 percent, CITIC improved 1.68 percent, Country Garden rallied 3.04 percent, CSPC Pharmaceutical slumped 0.80 percent, Galaxy Entertainment climbed 2.07 percent, Haier Smart Home tumbled 1.58 percent, Hang Lung Properties rose 0.61 percent, Henderson Land gathered 0.47 percent, Hong Kong & China Gas advanced 1.86 percent, Industrial and Commercial Bank of China sank 0.42 percent, JD.com and Techtronic Industries both strengthened 2.08 percent, Lenovo fell 0.18 percent, Li Ning increased 1.62 percent, Meituan skyrocketed 4.37 percent, New World Development surged 4.31 percent, Xiaomi Corporation added 1.44 percent, WuXi Biologics gained 1.07 percent and CNOOC and CK Infrastructure were unchanged. The lead from Wall Street is inconsistent as the major averages opened slightly higher on Wednesday and hugged the line for the first half of the day before diverging to finish mixed. The Dow dipped 23.90 points or 0.06 percent to finish at 39,308.00, while the NASDAQ gained 159.54 points or 0.88 percent to end at a record 18,188.30 and the S&P 500 added 28.01 points or 0.51 percent to close at 5,537.02 - also a record. The strength on Wall Street reflected optimism about the outlook for interest rates following the release of weaker than expected economic data. The Institute for Supply Management showed an unexpected contraction by U.S. service sector activity in June. Also, the Labor Department noted a modest increase by first-time claims for U.S. unemployment benefits last week. However, overall trading activity remained somewhat subdued and treasuries moved notably higher in reaction to the weaker than expected data. The markets closed earlier than usual and remain closed for the Independence Day holiday on Thursday. Oil prices climbed higher on Wednesday after data showed a much larger than expected drop in U.S. crude inventories last week, while a weaker dollar also lent support. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for August ended up by $1.07 at $83.88 a barrel.