Hong Kong Bourse Poised To Extend Recovery On Thursday

The Hong Kong stock market emphatically halted the brutal three-day losing streak in which it had plummeted more than 2,450 points or 12.5 percent to a six-year closing low. The Hang Seng now sits just beneath the 20,100-point plateau and it’s called higher again on Thursday.

The global forecast for the Asian markets is broadly positive on slightly easing geopolitical concerns and more bargain hunting, especially among technology stocks. The European and U.S. markets were solidly higher and the Asian bourses are tipped to follow suit.

The Hang Seng finished with enormous gains on Wednesday after being mauled earlier this week as technology stocks were the big winners.

For the day, the index exploded for 1,672.42 points or 9.08 percent to finish at 20,087.50 after trading between 18,584.04 and 20,120.85.

Among the actives, AAC Technologies strengthened 16.21 percent, while AIA Group perked 3.38 percent, Alibaba Group soared 27.30 percent, Alibaba Health Info surged 27.58 percent, ANTA Sports advanced 14.16 percent, China Life Insurance collected 4.36 percent, China Mengniu Dairy gathered 5.01 percent, China Petroleum and Chemical (Sinopec) was up 2.11 percent, China Resources Land improved 11.94 percent, CITIC skidded 1.10 percent, CNOOC rose 3.03 percent, Country Garden accelerated 16.67 percent, CSPC Pharmaceutical added 9.38 percent, Galaxy Entertainment climbed 14.18 percent, Hang Lung Properties sank 0.69 percent, Henderson Land fell 0.49 percent, Hong Kong & China Gas was up 0.54 percent, Industrial and Commercial Bank of China slumped 0.68 percent, JD.com exploded 35.64 percent, Li Ning increased 13.64 percent, Longfor spiked 19.26 percent, Meituan skyrocketed 32.08 percent, New World Development lost 0.67 percent, Techtronic Industries gained 5.92 percent, Xiaomi Corporation jumped 16.52 percent and WuXi Biologics rallied 15.38 percent.

The lead from Wall Street is upbeat as the major averages opened sharply higher on Wednesday and remained firmly in the green throughout the trading day.

The Dow surged 518.76 points or 1.55 percent to finish at 34,063.10, while the NASDAQ soared 487.93 points or 3.77 percent to end at 13,437.55 and the S&P 500 jumped 95.41 points or 2.24 percent to close at 4,357.86.

The rally came after the Fed announced its widely expected decision to raise interest rates for the first time since December of 2018 in an effort to combat inflation at 40-year highs. The Fed raised the target range for the federal funds rate by 25 basis points to 0.25 to 0.5 percent.

The central bank also predicted ongoing rate hikes will be appropriate, with the Fed’s latest projections pointing to an interest rate of 1.9 percent by the end of the year. It also expects to begin reducing its holdings of Treasury securities and agency debt and agency mortgage-backed securities at a coming meeting.

Optimism about a potential diplomatic solution to the ongoing Russian invasion of Ukraine also generated buying interest. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said during an address to the nation that the positions in the negotiations were beginning to “sound more realistic.”

Crude oil prices dropped Wednesday, extending losses to a third straight session after data showed a surprise surge in U.S. crude inventories, and amid hopes of some progress in Russia-Ukraine peace talks. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for April ended lower by $1.40 or 1.5 percent at $95.04 a barrel.

Closer to home, the Hong Kong Monetary Authority will wrap up its discussion on monetary policy today and then announce its decision on interest rates; the benchmark currently sits at 0.86 percent. Hong Kong will also see February jobless date; in January, the unemployment rate was 3.9 percent.