The Hong Kong stock market has finished higher in five straight sessions, advancing more than 620 points or 2.6 percent along the way. The Hang Seng Index now rests just above the 25,390-point plateau although investors may lock in gains on Tuesday.
The global forecast for the Asian markets offers little clarity amid a lack of catalysts, although mild support from crude oil prices should limit any downside. The European markets were slightly higher and the U.S. bourses were barely lower and the Asian markets figure to split the difference.
The Hang Seng finished slightly higher on Monday as gains from the casinos and technology stocks were capped by weakness from the oil companies and a mixed picture from the property sector.
For the day, the index picked up 62.94 points or 0.25 percent to finish at 25,390.91 after trading between 25,230.33 and 25,483.26.
Among the actives, AAC Technologies rallied 2.27 percent, while AIA Group spiked 2.34 percent, Alibaba Group retreated 0.55 percent, Alibaba Health Info and Xiaomi Corporation both climbed 0.71 percent, ANTA Sports sank 0.53 percent, China Life Insurance skidded 0.58 percent, China Mengniu Dairy added 0.54 percent, China Petroleum and Chemical (Sinopec) lost 0.26 percent, China Resources Land tumbled 1.18 percent, CITIC plunged 2.56 percent, CNOOC dropped 0.37 percent, Country Garden plummeted 5.75 percent, CSPC Pharmaceutical gathered 0.61 percent, Galaxy Entertainment rose 0.45 percent, Hang Lung Properties perked 0.35 percent, Henderson Land shed 0.30 percent, Hong Kong & China Gas increased 0.34 percent, Industrial and Commercial Bank of China collected 0.23 percent, Li Ning fell 0.21 percent, Meituan eased 0.07 percent, New World Development slid 0.15 percent, Sands China jumped 1.54 percent, Sun Hung Kai Properties gained 0.50 percent, Techtronic Industries surged 3.24 percent, WuXi Biologics soared 2.57 percent and Longfor was unchanged.
The lead from Wall Street is of little help as the major averages opened higher on Monday but quickly faded, spending the rest of the session hugging the unchanged line and ending barely in the red.
The Dow shed 12.86 points or 0.04 percent to finish at 36,087.45, while the NASDAQ dipped 7.11 points or 0.04 percent to close at 15,853.85 and the S&P 500 eased 0.05 points or 0.00 percent to end at 4,682.80.
The choppy trading on Wall Street came as traders expressed some uncertainty about the near-term outlook for the markets.
Concerns about inflation continued to weigh on investors’ minds after last week’s report showing consumer prices increased at their fastest annual rate in over thirty years in October. The elevated pace of inflation has led to worries that the Federal Reserve might be forced to accelerate its plans to begin tightening monetary policy.
In U.S. economic news, the New York Federal Reserve reported that New York manufacturing activity grew strongly in November.
Crude oil futures settled marginally higher Monday after plunging earlier in the session on expectations of higher supplies and weakening demand. The dollar’s climb to a 16-month high also weighed on oil prices early on in the session. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for December ended higher by $0.09 or 0.1 percent at $80.88 a barrel.
Closer to home, Hong Kong will see October figures for unemployment later today; in September, the jobless rate was 4.5 percent.
Market Analysis
Hong Kong Stock Market Due For Profit Taking
2021-11-16 01:15:11
