KGI Asia Commentary

Hang Seng Index fell 72 points on Thursday

The Hang Seng Index fell 72 points or 0.4% to 20,351 on Thursday. HSTECH rose 48 points or 1.2% to 4,149 and HSCEI rose 27 points or 0.4% to 6,859. Daily market turnover was HK$102.6bn.

Stocks close higher Thursday

The U.S. stock market was volatile on Thursday, and investors are still worried about the path of the Federal Reserve's interest rate hike. The S&P500 index rose 0.53%to close at 4,012.32 points, ending a four -day decline. The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 108.82 points to close at 33,153.91 points, an increase of 0.33%. The Nasdaq Composite Index rose 0.72% at 11,590.40 points. Nvidia issued an optimistic fiscal season guideline that the company's quarterly financial report revenue and profits exceeded expectations, promoting its stock price to rise by more than 14%. The expected acceleration of artificial intelligence applications will stimulate the demand for Nvidia chips. Wall Street is optimistic about this chip manufacturer and reverse their decision to remain on the sidelines. At the same time, Alibaba's announcement of the third fiscal quarterly profit and revenue are better than expected, but its core Chinese market GMV (key performance indicators to measure sales) decreased slightly year -on -year. Moderna reported fourth-quarter results that missed, because the cost increase and the decline in the demand for COVID-19 vaccine drag their performance. Its stock price fell 6.7%. Lucid predicts that the output of 2023 is much lower than the analyst's expectations, and said that due to weak demand, orders in the fourth quarter fell sharply, and the stock price fell more than 18%. EBAY also faces pressure. After the announcement of the fourth quarter, it closed down 8%, and the annual guidance was lower than Wall Street expectations. Overall, as the market is worried that the Fed will be more hawkish, the overall market sentiment remain weak.

Consumer expenditure is lower than the previously reported; the inflation was hotter in the fourth quarter

Measurement of economic indicators -the growth rate of GDP (GDP) has fallen from the initial 2.9%. As the main engine of the economy, the annual growth rate of consumption expenditure is 1.4%, not the initially announced 2.1%. This explains the decline in GDP growth to a large extent. The PCE price index increased by 3.7%, higher than the previous estimated 3.2%. Excluding food and energy, the core PCE price index rose by 4.3%, an upward revision of 0.4 percentage point. The PCE price indexes are the Fed's preferred inflation measures. Second -hand cars and new cars and non -profit hospital service costs are the main factor for adjusting the price upward.

Data released by the US Department of Labor on Thursday showed that the first-time unemployment claims last week decreased by 3,000 to 192,000. This number is less than the expected 200,000, and the number of the previous week was adjusted by 1,000 people from 194,000 to 195,000.

Hong Kong Stock Connect had a net inflow of HK$0.83bn on Thursday, of which Tencent (700) had the largest net inflow, reaching HK$0.71bn; followed by Great Wall Motor (2333). HSCEI ETF (2828) recorded the largest net outflow at HK$0.36bn, followed by Tracker Fund (2800).