The Hong Kong stock market has seen gains for two consecutive sessions, adding nearly 480 points or approximately 2.5%. The Hang Seng Index is currently positioned just above the 19,550 mark, although it is anticipated to open lower on Monday. The outlook for Asian markets is uncertain, with potential profit-taking expected to limit any upward momentum. European markets were weak, and U.S. markets were mixed with minimal changes, suggesting that Asian markets might experience a similar split.
On Friday, the Hang Seng Index ended modestly higher, supported by gains in financials, properties, and energy sectors, while technology stocks showed mixed results.
The index rose by 177.11 points or 0.91%, finishing at 19,553.61, trading within a range of 19,342.96 to 19,602.24.
Notable movements among active stocks included:
- Alibaba Group surged by 7.53%
- Alibaba Health Info rallied by 2.19%
- ANTA Sports retreated by 1.11%
- China Life Insurance soared by 5.01%
- China Mengniu Dairy fell by 0.12%
- China Resources Land increased by 2.98%
- CITIC added 0.83%
- CNOOC rose by 0.21%
- Country Garden skyrocketed by 9.82%
- CSPC Pharmaceutical slumped by 1.05%
- Galaxy Entertainment jumped by 1.92%
- Hang Lung Properties improved by 1.23%
- Henderson Land climbed by 1.34%
- Hong Kong & China Gas dropped by 0.93%
- JD.com advanced by 1.28%
- Lenovo tumbled by 1.35%
- Li Ning strengthened by 1.38%
- Meituan sank by 0.48%
- New World Development spiked by 3.39%
- Techtronic Industries increased by 0.94%
- Xiaomi Corporation gained by 0.61%
- WuXi Biologics plummeted by 3.43%
- Industrial and Commercial Bank of China and Hengan International remained unchanged.
Wall Street's performance provides little direction, as major averages opened mixed and ended similarly. The Dow gained 134.19 points or 0.34% to close at a record 40,003.59, while the NASDAQ dipped by 12.33 points or 0.07% to 16,685.97, and the S&P 500 added 6.17 points or 0.12% to 5,303.27.
Over the week, the NASDAQ surged by 2.1%, the S&P 500 rose by 1.5%, and the Dow increased by 1.2%.
The choppy trading on Wall Street reflects traders' hesitation to make significant moves as they assess recent market strength, which has driven major averages to new records.
In economic news, the Conference Board reported a continued decline in its reading of leading U.S. economic indicators for April.
Oil prices increased on Friday due to easing inflation, a drop in inventories, and optimism regarding potential interest rate cuts. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for June rose to $80.06 per barrel, an increase of $0.79 or over 1%. WTI crude futures saw a 2.3% gain for the week.
Domestically, Hong Kong is expected to release unemployment figures for April later today, with the jobless rate forecasted to remain steady at 3.0%.