KGI Asia Commentary
HSI rose 204 points on Thursday
The Hang Seng Index rose 204 points or 1.3% to 16,302 on Thursday. HSTECH rose 74 points or 2.2% to 3,503 and HSCEI rose 73 points or 1.4% to 5,494. Daily market turnover was HK$93.7bn.
Stocks flat to down after CPI data
U.S. stocks closed nearly flat on Thursday as data showed that the U.S. consumer price index (CPI) in December was higher than market expectations, raising doubts about whether the Federal Reserve will cut interest rates as soon as some investors expect. The Nasdaq closed flat at 14,970.19. The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose slightly by 15.29 points to close at 37,711.02 points, an increase of 0.04%. The S&P 500 index fell slightly by 0.07% to close at 4,780.24 points. For the first time since 2021, Microsoft has surpassed Apple and become the world's most valuable company. On Thursday, the Bitcoin ETF rose on its first day of trading, with cryptocurrency prices also rising slightly. Earlier on Thursday, Bitcoin briefly touched the $49,000 mark before falling to over $46,000. This comes after the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) on Wednesday approved rule changes that open the door for bitcoin exchange-traded funds and the flagship crypto.
Consumer prices rose 0.3% in December, higher than expected
Consumer Price Index (CPI) data for December was slightly higher than expected, with the CPI rising 0.3% for the month, pushing the annualized inflation rate to 3.4%. Economists had previously expected the CPI to increase by 0.2% mom in December and 3.2% yoy. Excluding volatile food and energy prices, so-called core CPI fell to 3.9% in December from 4% in November, but was above expectations of 3.8%. Core CPI rose 0.3% mom, in line with expectations. The main reason for the increase is rising housing costs. The category rose 0.5% in December, accounting for more than half of the increase in core CPI.
Hong Kong Stock Connect had a net inflow of HK$5.42bn on Thursday, of which CCB (939) had the largest net inflow, reaching HK$0.14bn; followed by Kuaishou (1024). Tracker Fund (2800) recorded the largest net outflow at HK$4.41bn, followed by HSCEI ETF (2828).
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