KGI Asia Commentary
HSI rose 116 points on Friday
The Hang Seng Index rose 116 points or 0.6% to 20,309 on Thursday. HSTECH rose 23 points or 0.6% to 4,270 and HSCEI rose 43 points or 0.6% to 6,922. Daily market turnover was HK$133.5bn.
Stocks close higher for second day in a row
The rebound in U.S. initial jobless claims has boosted hopes that the Fed's rate hike cycle will soon end. U.S. stocks continued to move higher on Thursday as the concern on banking crisis has further ease. The S&P 500 gained 0.57% to close at 4,050.83. The Nasdaq Composite rose 0.73% to close at 12,013.47 as investors continued to have interest in technology stocks. The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 141.43 points, or 0.43%, to 32,859.03. The Cboe Volatility Index fell to 19 from 30 in mid-March, and back at levels last seen earlier this month. Technology stocks were among the biggest gainers overnight as U.S. Treasury yields stabilized after a rebound. Apple, Amazon and Microsoft led gains in the big tech stocks, though Alphabet fell about half a percent. Meanwhile, Alibaba extended yesterday's gains, rising more than 3%. U.S. President Joe Biden on Thursday called on regulators to tighten oversight of banks, urging regulators to reinstate tough rules on mid-sized banks in the United States.
Jobless claims rise to 198,000, more than expected
Initial claims for unemployment benefits totaled 198,000 in the week ended March 25, an increase of 7,000 from the previous week and slightly higher than the forecast of 195,000. Bigger-than-expected jobless claims added to hopes that the Federal Reserve might slow down its tightening as the labor market is cooling. Meanwhile, final gross domestic product figures released by the Commerce Department showed the economy grew at an annualized rate of 2.6% in the fourth quarter, slightly below the previous estimate of 2.7%. The change was largely due to downward revisions to consumer spending and exports.
Hong Kong Stock Connect had a net inflow of HK$0.82bn on Thursday, of which Meituan (3690) had the largest net inflow, reaching HK$1.44bn; followed by China Mobile (941). XPeng (9868) recorded the largest net outflow at HK$0.11bn, followed by Innovent Bio (1801).
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