Overbought Hang Seng Has Positive Lead Again

(RTTNews) - The Hong Kong stock market has moved higher in eight straight sessions, gathering more than 2,000 points or 11.8 percent along the way. The Hang Seng Index now sits just above the 18,200-point plateau and it's nonetheless tipped to open higher again on Friday.

The global forecast for the Asian markets is upbeat on an improved outlook for interest rates. The European markets were mixed and the U.S. bourses were up and the Asian markets figure to follow the latter lead.

The Hang Seng finished sharply higher again on Thursday with gains across the board, especially among the properties and technology stocks.

For the day, the index surged 444.10 points or 2.50 percent to finish at 18,207.13 after trading between 17,740.62 and 18,217.82.

Among the actives, Alibaba Group improved 2.35 percent, while Alibaba Health Info surged 10.81 percent, ANTA Sports perked 1.39 percent, China Life Insurance and Li Ning both collected 3.84 percent, China Mengniu Dairy advanced 2.68 percent, China Resources Land jumped 4.57 percent, CITIC gathered 1.47 percent, CNOOC sank 0.49 percent, Country Garden skyrocketed 13.07 percent, CSPC Pharmaceutical strengthened 3.55 percent, Galaxy Entertainment increased 2.12 percent, Hang Lung Properties climbed 3,21 percent, Henderson Land rose 1.68 percent, JD.com accelerated 4.88 percent, Lenovo gained 1.79 percent, Meituan soared 8.77 percent, New World Development rallied 4.65 percent, Techtronic Industries tumbled 3.29 percent, Xiaomi Corporation added 1.85 percent, WuXi Biologics spiked 5.97 percent and Hong Kong & China Gas, Industrial and Commercial Bank of China and CK Infrastructure were unchanged.

The lead from Wall Street is firm as the major averages opened higher on Thursday and continued to strengthen as the day progressed, ending near session highs.

The Dow jumped 322.37 points or 0.85 percent to finish at 38,225.66, while the NASDAQ rallied 235.48 points or 1.51 percent to close at 15,840.96 and the S&P 500 advanced 45.81 points or 0.91 percent to end at 5,064.20.

The strength that emerged on Wall Street came as traders breathed a sigh of relief following the Federal Reserve's monetary policy announcement on Wednesday. Traders had expressed some concerns the Fed's next monetary policy move could actually be an interest rate hike rather than a cut, but Fed Chair Jerome Powell post-meeting alleviated those worries.

Earlier in the day, stocks saw volatility as traders reacted to the latest batch of U.S. economic data, including a Labor Department report showing a surge by labor costs in the first quarter of 2024. A separate Labor Department showed initial jobless claims came in unchanged last week, while a Commerce Department report showed the U.S. trade deficit narrowed slightly in March.

Oil futures failed to hold early gains and settled slightly lower on Thursday amid easing concerns over supply disruptions and worries about the outlook for economic growth and energy demand. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for June ended down by $0.05 at $78.95 a barrel.

Closer to home, Hong Kong will see March numbers for retail sales later today; in February, sales were up 1.9 percent on year.