The Hong Kong stock market has jumped higher in four straight sessions, gathering almost 1,175 points or 4.5 percent along the way. The Hang Seng Index now sits just above the 26,130-point plateau and it’s looking at another green light again for Thursday’s trade.
The global forecast for the Asian markets is cautiously optimistic on encouraging corporate results and rising crude oil prices. The European and U.S. markets mostly saw mild upside and the Asian bourses are tipped to follow suit.
The Hang Seng finished sharply higher on Wednesday following gains from the properties and casinos, while the oil companies were soft and the technology stocks were mixed.
For the day, the index surged 348.81 points or 1.35 percent to finish at 26,136.02 after trading between 25,915.62 and 26,214.63.
Among the actives, AAC Technologies dropped 0.30 percent, while AIA Group jumped 1.40 percent, Alibaba Group surged 6.67 percent, Alibaba Health Info skyrocketed 13.49 percent, ANTA Sports retreated 1.07 percent, China Life Insurance collected 0.14 percent, China Mengniu Dairy advanced 0.74 percent, China Petroleum and Chemical (Sinopec) plummeted 1.99 percent, China Resources Land was up 0.16 percent, CITIC perked 0.87 percent, CNOOC plunged 2.27 percent, Country Garden soared 5.00 percent, CSPC Pharmaceutical tanked 1.54 percent, Galaxy Entertainment accelerated 3.28 percent, Hang Lung Properties and Li Ning both added 0.67 percent, Henderson Land dipped 0.16 percent, Hong Kong & China Gas rose 0.34 percent, Industrial and Commercial Bank of China lost 0.23 percent, Longfor gathered 1.17 percent, Meituan rallied 2.87 percent, New World Development gained 0.45 percent, Sands China spiked 4.09 percent, Techtronic Industries eased 0.12 percent, Xiaomi Corporation climbed 1.33 percent, WuXi Biologics sank 1.02 percent and Sun Hung Kai Properties was unchanged.
The lead from Wall Street is mostly positive as the major averages opened higher on Wednesday. The Dow and S&P 500 remained well in the green and finished that way, while the NASDAQ hugged the unchanged line and ended slightly in the red.
The Dow climbed 152.03 points or 0.43 percent to finish at 35,609.34, while the NASDAQ dipped 7.41 points or 0.05 percent to close at 15,121.68 and the S&P 500 rose 16.56 points or 0.37 percent to end at 4,536.19.
The continued strength on Wall Street came as traders reacted positively to another batch of largely upbeat corporate earnings news.
Traders largely shrugged off the Federal Reserve’s Beige Book, which noted the pace of U.S. economic growth has recently slowed due to supply chain disruptions, labor shortages, and uncertainty around the Delta variant of COVID-19.
The Fed also said employment increased at a modest to moderate rate in recent weeks, as demand for workers was high, but labor growth was dampened by a low supply of workers.
Crude oil prices climbed higher on Wednesday after data showed a drop in U.S. crude inventories last week, while increased demand also supported prices. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for December ended up by $0.98 or 1.2 percent at $83.42 a barrel.
Closer to home, Hong Kong will see September figures for unemployment later today; in August, the jobless rate was 4.7 percent.
Market Analysis
Overbought Hang Seng Has Positive Lead For Thursday
2021-10-21 01:15:10
