Renewed Strength Called For Hong Kong Stock Market

The Hong Kong stock market on Thursday snapped the three-day winning streak in which it had rallied more than 400 points or 2.4 percent. The Hang Seng Index now sits just beneath the 17,100-point plateau although it’s expected to open to the upside on Friday.

The global forecast for the Asian markets is cautiously optimistic thanks to easing Treasury yields. The European markets were down and the U.S. bourses were mostly higher and the Asian markets are tipped to follow the latter lead.

The Hang Seng finished modestly lower on Thursday following losses from the technology and financial sectors and a mixed picture from the property stocks.

For the day, the index lost 44.14 points or 0.26 percent to finish at 17,095.03 after trading between 16,856.19 and 17,141.36.

Among the actives, Alibaba Group rose 0.34 percent, while Alibaba Health Info tanked 1.73 percent, ANTA Sports declined 1.52 percent, China Life Insurance skidded 1.28 percent, China Mengniu Dairy dropped 1.16 percent, China Resources Land rallied 1.69 percent, CITIC stumbled 1.64 percent, CNOOC climbed 1.04 percent, Country Garden plunged 2.05 percent, CSPC Pharmaceutical retreated 1.61 percent, Galaxy Entertainment shed 0.73 percent, Haier Smart Home jumped 1.98 percent, Hang Lung Properties advanced 0.96 percent, Henderson Land fell 0.42 percent, Hong Kong & China Gas perked 0.17 percent, Industrial and Commercial Bank of China slid 0.25 percent, JD.com lost 0.56 percent, Lenovo slumped 1.48 percent, Li Ning sank 1.09 percent, Meituan added 0.67 percent, New World Development plummeted 4.30 percent, Techtronic Industries was up 0.09 percent, Xiaomi Corporation gained 0.50 percent and WuXi Biologics tumbled 1.67 percent.

The lead from Wall Street is fairly positive as the major averages shook off early weakness and climbed well into the green, although the Dow failed late and ended in the red.

The Dow eased 2.43 points or 0.01 percent to finish at 38,459.08, while the NASDAQ surged 271.84 points or 1.68 percent to end at 16,442.20 and the S&P 500 added 38.42 points or 0.74 percent to close at 5,199.06.

The rally by the NASDAQ and S&P 500 seemed to coincide with the release of the results of the Treasury Department’s auction of $22 billion worth of 30-year bonds, which saw average demand.

Treasury yields pulled back off their highs following the release of the results, with the yield on the benchmark 10-year note giving ground. The Treasury revealed below average demand for this month’s three-year and 10-year note auctions earlier in the week.

In economic news, the Labor Department released a report showing producer prices increased in line with estimates in March.

Crude oil prices dropped from five-month highs on Thursday amid concerns the Federal Reserve will keep interest rates higher for a longer period due to inflationary pressures. West Texas Intermediate crude oil futures for May ended down by $1.19 at $85.02 a barrel.