The Hong Kong stock market has climbed higher in consecutive trading days, advancing more than 415 points or 1.6 percent along the way. The Hang Seng Index now rests just beneath the 28,640-point plateau and it may extend its gains on Monday.
The global forecast for the Asian markets is firm thanks to better than expected employment data from the United States and a jump in crude oil prices. The European and U.S. markets were up and the Asian bourses figure to open in similar fashion.
The Hang Seng finished sharply higher on Friday following gains from the insurance companies, casinos and utilities, while the oil companies ended under pressure.
For the day, the index spiked 336.66 points or 1.19 percent to finish at 28,639.85 after trading between 28,344.39 and 28,705.76.
Among the actives, Ping An Insurance surged 4.88 percent, while WH Group soared 3.58 percent, China Mengniu Dairy spiked 3.51 percent, Galaxy Entertainment advanced 2.40 percent, China Life jumped 1.86 percent, AIA Group climbed 1.65 percent, Sands China gathered 1.05 percent, BOC Hong Kong shed 0.78 percent, Hong Kong & China Gas added 0.52 percent, China Petroleum and Chemical (Sinopec) lost 0.37 percent, Sun Hung Kai Properties fell 0.25 percent, Lenovo Group slid 0.23 percent, CNOOC eased 0.19 percent and Industrial and Commercial Bank of China collected 0.17 percent.
The lead from Wall Street is positive as stocks moved mostly higher on Friday after the release of the jobs report, lifting the Dow and the S&P 500 to new record closing highs.
The Dow climbed 117.68 points or 0.49 percent to 24,329.16, while the NASDAQ rose 27.24 points or 0.40 percent to 6,840.08 and the S&P added 14.52 points or 0.55 percent to 2,651.50. For the week, the NASDAQ fell 0.1 percent, the Dow and the S&P both gained 0.4 percent,
The continued advance by stocks followed a report from the Labor Department showing stronger than expected job growth in November, while the jobless rate came in as expected.
Positive sentiment was also generated when the House and the Senate passed a stopgap spending bill to avoid a government shutdown. The bill extends government funding until December 22, allowing time to negotiate a longer-term spending bill.
Crude oil prices rose Friday amid concerns of supply disruptions from Nigeria as workers threatened to strike at a crucial production facility. WTI light sweet crude oil was up 67 cents or 1.2 percent to $57.36/bbl. Still, oil was down 1.5 percent for the week.
by RTT Staff Writer
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