Hong Kong Stock Market Due For Profit Taking

The Hong Kong stock market has moved higher in four straight sessions, gathering almost 675 points or 2.2 percent along the way. The Hang Seng Index now rests just above the 29,400-point plateau although investors are likely to cash in on Friday.

The global forecast for the Asian markets is broadly negative thanks to a spike in bond yields and plummeting oil prices. The European markets were up and the U.S. bourses were down and the Asian markets are tipped to follow the latter lead.

The Hang Seng finished sharply higher on Thursday following gains from the properties, while the technology stocks and casinos were mixed.

For the day, the index jumped 371.60 points or 1.28 percent to finish at 29,405.72 after trading between 29,317.61 and 29,596.58.

Among the actives, AAC Technologies and China Life Insurance both eased 0.12 percent, while AIA Group and Power Assets both perked 0.67 percent, Alibaba Group skyrocketed 4.94 percent, ANTA Sports soared 3.04 percent, China Mengniu Dairy jumped 0.98 percent, China Petroleum and Chemical (Sinopec) skidded 0.69 percent, China Resources Land rallied 1.56 percent, CNOOC tanked 2.01 percent, CSPC Pharmaceutical plummeted 3,13 percent, Galaxy Entertainment plunged 2.36 percent, Hang Lung Properties gathered 0.72 percent, Henderson Land climbed 0.88 percent, Hong Kong & China Gas rose 0.17 percent, Industrial and Commercial Bank of China sank 0.36 percent, Meituan surged 3.69 percent, New World Development lost 0.13 percent, Ping An Insurance tumbled 0.72 percent, Sands China accelerated 2.42 percent, Sun Hung Kai Properties advanced 0.51 percent, Techtronic Industries dropped 0.22 percent, Xiaomi Corporation shed 0.19 percent, WuXi Biologics spiked 2.64 percent and BOC Hong Kong and CITIC were unchanged.

The lead from Wall Street is soft as stocks opened mixed on Thursday but turned firmly negative as the day progressed – particularly among technology stocks.

The Dow tumbled 153.07 points or 0.46 percent to finish at 32,862.30, while the NASDAQ plummeted 409.03 points or 3.02 percent to end at 13,116.17 and the S&P 500 sank 58.66 points or 1.48 percent to close at 3,915.46.

The weakness on Wall Street came as another spike in treasury yields renewed concerns about the outlook for high-growth companies. The yield on the benchmark ten-year note jumped above 1.7 percent to reach its highest levels since January of 2020, while the thirty-year bond yield shot up to its highest levels since last summer.

Yields skyrocketed despite assurances by the Federal Reserve that interest rates will remain at near-zero levels through 2023. Analysts attributed the jump in yields to concerns that the Fed’s apparent willingness to let inflation accelerate more than normal will reduce the appeal of bonds.

In economic news, the Labor Department noted an unexpected increase in first-time claims for U.S. unemployment benefits last week thanks to the winter storm in Texas. Also, the Philadelphia Federal Reserve said its reading on regional manufacturing spiked to a 50-year high in March.

Crude oil prices declined sharply on Thursday on concerns about the outlook for energy demand due to uncertainty about the pace of the economic recovery. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for April ended down $4.60 or 7.1 percent at $60.00 a barrel.