Volatile Hang Seng Called Higher Again On Friday

The Hong Kong stock market has finished with enormous gains in each of the last two sessions, skyrocketing almost 3,100 points or 16 percent as it more than erased heavy damage from earlier in the week. The Hang Seng now sits just above the 21,500-point plateau and it’s called higher again on Friday.

The global forecast for the Asian markets is upbeat amidst upward momentum after brutal selling earlier in the week. The European markets were mixed and the U.S. bourses were up and the Asian markets figure to split the difference.

The Hang Seng finished sharply higher again on Thursday with gains across the board, especially the technology and property stocks.

For the day, the index surged 1,413.73 points or 7.04 percent to finish at the daily high of 21,501.23 after trading as low as 20,786.69.

Among the actives, AAC Technologies perked 3.14 percent, while AIA Group advanced 6.47 percent, Alibaba Group surged 12.46 percent, Alibaba Health Info soared 12.35 percent, ANTA Sports gained 4.55 percent, China Life Insurance added 5.57 percent, China Mengniu Dairy improved 6.29 percent, China Petroleum and Chemical (Sinopec) climbed 6.51 percent, China Resources Land rallied 8.36 percent, CITIC increased 6.04 percent, CNOOC gathered 3.59 percent, Country Garden skyrocketed 30.42 percent, CSPC Pharmaceutical jumped 7.13 percent, Galaxy Entertainment spiked 9.25 percent, Hang Lung Properties strengthened 6.67 percent, Henderson Land accelerated 8.66 percent, Hong Kong & China Gas was up 1.96 percent, Industrial and Commercial Bank of China collected 4.09 percent, JD.com surged 15.85 percent, Li Ning rallied 10.45 percent, Longfor soared 14.22 percent, Meituan spiked 12.29 percent, New World Development jumped 7.41 percent, Techtronic Industries accelerated 10.60 percent, Xiaomi Corporation rose 4.03 percent and WuXi Biologics skyrocketed 19.79 percent.

The lead from Wall Street ends up solidly positive as the major averages shook off early directionless trade, accelerating in the afternoon to finish near daily highs.

The Dow surged 417.66 points or 1.23 percent to finish at 34,480.76, while the NASDAQ soared 178.23 points or 1.33 percent to end at 13,614.78 and the S&P 500 climbed 53.81 points or 1.23 percent to close at 4,411.67.

The strength that emerged on Wall Street reflects recent upward momentum, with the major averages extending the rally seen over the two previous sessions. The rebound has helped lift stocks well off their recent lows but also well shy of record highs.

The markets also continued to digest the Federal Reserve’s decision to raise interest rates for the first time since December 2018 on Wednesday. The Fed raised rates by 25 basis points to 0.25 to 0.5 percent and signaled several more rate hikes are likely over the coming months.

In economic news, the Labor Department said first-time claims for U.S. unemployment benefits fell more than expected last week. Also, the Commerce Department said housing starts rebounded than expected in February.

Crude oil prices climbed higher Thursday after the International Energy Agency warned of a possible supply loss from Russia in the coming weeks due to the sanctions imposed on the country. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for April ended higher by $7.94 or 8.4 percent at $102.98 a barrel.