The Hong Kong stock market has climbed higher in two straight sessions, gathering more than 180 points or 0.8 percent along the way. The Hang Seng Index now rests just above the 21,510-point plateau and it’s tipped to open in the green again on Friday.
The global forecast for the Asian markets is upbeat after the release of encouraging U.S. inflation data and what it means for interest rates, although it may already have largely been priced in. The European and U.S. markets were up and the Asian bourses are tipped to open in similar fashion.
The Hang Seng finished modestly higher on Thursday as gains from the financials and properties were offset by weakness from the technology shares.
For the day, the index advanced 78.05 points or 0.36 percent to finish at 21,514.10 after trading between 21,223.84 and 21,698.94.
Among the actives, Alibaba Group retreated 1.86 percent, while Alibaba Health Info declined 2.01 percent, ANTA Sports spiked 2.10 percent, China Life Insurance and Hang Lung Properties both gained 0.41 percent, China Mengniu Dairy climbed 1.24 percent, CITIC surged 3,64 percent, CNOOC soared 2.38 percent, Country Garden plummeted 6.31 percent, CSPC Pharmaceutical jumped 1.55 percent, Galaxy Entertainment added 0.47 percent, Henderson Land advanced 0.72 percent, Hong Kong & China Gas rose 0.39 percent, Industrial and Commercial Bank of China collected 0.97 percent, JD.com was up 0.32 percent, Lenovo rallied 1.26 percent, Li Ning tumbled 2.32 percent, Meituan slumped 0.57 percent, New World Development fell 0.22 percent, Techtronic Industries eased 0.05 percent, Xiaomi Corporation improved 0.34 percent, WuXi Biologics plunged 2.43 percent and China Resources Land was unchanged.
The lead from Wall Street is upbeat as the major averages shook off early weakness on Thursday and finally settled solidly in positive territory.
The Dow climbed 216.96 points or 0.64 percent to finish at 34,189.97, while the NASDAQ gained 69.43 points or 0.64 percent to close at 11,001.10 and the S&P 500 rose 13.56 points or 0.34 percent to end at 3,983.17.
The strength that emerged on Wall Street followed the release of highly anticipated consumer price inflation data, which largely was in line with forecasts.
The slower price growth eased concerns about the outlook for interest rates, although the Federal Reserve is still widely expected to raise rates by at least 25 basis points at its next meeting.
Oil futures settled higher on Thursday, gaining for a sixth straight session on a weaker dollar and data showing a slowdown in U.S. inflation. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for February added $0.98 or 1.3 percent at $78.39 a barrel.
Market Analysis
Continued Support Anticipated For Hong Kong Shares
2023-01-13 01:15:03
