FX.co ★ Rebound Anticipated For Hong Kong Stock Market

The Hong Kong stock market experienced a decrease once more last Friday. This comes after a temporary halt to the two-day losing streak, during which it fell approximately 600 points or 3.8 percent. Despite the recent downturn, the Hang Seng Index currently sits just above 15,530 points and is projected to experience an increase once again coming Monday.

Global predictions for Asian markets are promising, inspired by solid U.S. employment figures. However, these same figures have reduced the likelihood of an interest rate hike next month. Friday saw a mixture of results from European markets and upscale figures from U.S. exchanges. It is expected that Asian markets will likely be inclined to follow the U.S. trend.

On Friday, the Hang Seng closed slightly lower, as technology stock losses were counterbalanced by the property sector's support. The index finished at 15,533.56, down 32.64 points or 0.21%, after trading between 15,435.85 and 15,912.61.

Among active companies, Alibaba Group decreased by 0.49%, Alibaba Health Info plunged 2.73%, ANTA Sports increased 2.15%, and China Life Insurance fell by 1.32%. Other notable changes include JD.com falling by 1.71% and WuXi Biologics plummeting a shocking 20.66%.

U.S. stock market indicators were strong Friday as major averages opened mixed but saw a steady upward trend, closing with strong gains. The Dow Jones Industrial Average and the S&P 500 both reached new record closing highs.

The extended surge on Wall Street was due in part to favorable earnings news from Meta Platforms, the parent company of Facebook, and online retail behemoth Amazon.

Investors also responded to the Labor Department's report that showed stronger-than-expected job growth in January. Although this further reduces the chances of an interest rate cut in March, a robust jobs market is a positive sign for both the stock market and the overall economy.

On the other hand, oil prices saw a significant drop on Friday. Hopes of an early rate cut by the Federal Reserve have dissipated following the report which displayed a higher-than-expected increase in U.S. non-farm payroll employment for January. The surge of the dollar following the jobs data also put downward pressure on oil prices. In the week, West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for March was down more than 7 percent.