(fxcue news) - The Hong Kong stock market has moved lower in two straight sessions, tumbling almost 550 points or 3 percent in that span. The Hang Seng Index now rests just above the 17,725-point plateau although it's likely to find traction on Wednesday. The global forecast for the Asian markets is upbeat on solid earnings news and interest rate optimism. The European markets were down and the U.S. bourses were up and the Asian markets figure to follow the latter lead. The Hang Seng finished sharply lower on Tuesday with damage across the board, especially among the technology, property and financial sectors. For the day, the index plunged 287.96 points or 1.60 percent to finish at the daily low of 17,727.98 after peaking at 17,899.55. Among the actives, Alibaba Group skidded 1.50 percent, while Alibaba Health Info plunged 2.48 percent, ANTA Sports lost 0.94 percent, China Life Insurance stumbled 1.63 percent, China Mengniu Dairy slipped 0.41 percent, China Resources Land declined 1.85 percent, CITIC shed 1.09 percent, CNOOC fell 0.89 percent, Country Garden was down 0.40 percent, CSPC Pharmaceutical, Hang Lung Properties and Galaxy Entertainment all sank 1.16 percent, Henderson Land retreated 1.97 percent, Hong Kong & China Gas tanked 2.34 percent, Industrial and Commercial Bank of China slumped 1.80 percent, JD.com surrendered 2.06 percent, Lenovo tumbled 2.01 percent, Li Ning plummeted 3.24 percent, Meituan dropped 1.34 percent, New World Development weakened 1.55 percent, Techtronic Industries dipped 0.42 percent, Xiaomi Corporation slid 0.73 percent and WuXi Biologics eased 0.36 percent. The Dow surged 742.76 points or 1.85 percent to finish at a record 40,945.48, while the NASDAQ added 36.77 points or 0.20 percent to close at 18,509.34 and the S&P 500 rose 35.98 points or 0.64 percent to end at 5,667.20 - also a record. The strength on Wall Street reflected positive earnings news from the likes of UnitedHealth (UNH), Bank of America (BAC) and Morgan Stanley (MS). Traders also reacted positively to the latest U.S. economic news, including a Commerce Department report showing U.S. retail sales came in unchanged in June. The Labor Department also released a report showing import prices in the U.S. were unexpectedly flat last month while export prices slid 0.5 percent. Gold stocks also saw significant strength amid a sharp increase by the price of the precious metal, driving the NYSE Arca Gold Bugs Index up by 3.4 percent. The index reached a more than two-year closing high. Oil prices fell on Tuesday, extending losses to a third straight session amid concerns about the outlook for demand and a slightly stronger dollar. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for August sank $1.15 or 1.4 percent at $80.76 a barrel.