Daily Investment Strategy
Hang Seng Index rose 13 points on Thursday
The Hang Seng Index closed at 16,891 points for the day, rose 13 points or 0.1%. The Hang Seng Technology Index reported at 3,366 points, fell 15 points or 0.5%. The HSCEI Index rose 8 points, or 0.1%, to 5,941 points. The market turnover was HK$102.8 billion.
S&P 500 jumps as jobs data eases recession fears
U.S. stocks were higher on Thursday as new job market data bolstered investor confidence in the U.S. economy. Earlier this week, U.S. stocks saw a sharp sell-off. The S&P 500 rose 2.3% to close at 5,319.31 points, its best single-day performance since November 2022. The Dow Jones Industrial Average soared 683.04 points to 39,446.49 points, an increase of 1.76%. The Nasdaq rose 2.87% to close at 16,660.02 points. Shares of pharmaceutical giant Eli Lilly rose 9.5% after it reported better-than-expected earnings and raised its full-year forecast on strong demand for diabetes treatment Mounjaro and weight-loss drug Zepbound. Strong stocks that took a big hit on Monday rebounded on Thursday. Chipmakers Nvidia and Broadcom both rose more than 6%. Meta platform shares rose 4.2%, and Apple shares rose about 1.7%. Entertainment giant Warner Bros Discovery reported a quarterly net loss of $10 billion and announced a $9.1 billion write-down of the value of its traditional TV networks as streaming erodes the cable business model at breakneck speed, and subsequently the company's stock price fell 9%. Under Armor shares rose 19% after quarterly earnings topped Wall Street expectations and the sportswear giant's full-year earnings guidance unexpectedly rose.
Unemployment claims data not as bad as expected
Data released on Thursday showed that there were 233,000 applications for initial jobless claims in the United States in the week ended August 3. That was below expectations for 241,000 and down from the previous week's revised reading of 250,000, which was the highest level in 11 months. The report eased concerns about a weakening job market following last week's weak nonfarm payrolls data. On the other hand, Richmond Federal Reserve President Barkin played down calls for an emergency interest rate cut on Thursday and said the Fed had time to wait to assess the pace of the economic slowdown.
Hong Kong Stock Connect had a net outflow of HK6.08bn on Thursday of which Tencent (700) had the largest net inflow, reaching HK$0.73bn; followed by China Mobile (941). Tracker Fund (2800) recorded the largest net outflow at HK$6.84bn, followed by HSCEI (2828).
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