The Hong Kong stock market bounced higher again on Thursday, one session after it had ended the two-day winning streak in which it had jumped more than 830 points or 3.3 percent. The Hang Seng Index now rests just beneath the 25,700-point plateau and it's expected to see additional support on Friday.
The global forecast for the Asian is broadly positive as the contentious election in the United States remains unsettled. The European and U.S. bourses were sharply higher and the Asian markets are tipped to open in similar fashion.
The Hang Seng finished sharply higher on Thursday with gains across the board, especially among the properties, technology stocks, casinos and oil and insurance companies.
For the day, the index surged 809.92 points or 3.25 percent to finish at the daily high of 25,695.92 after moving as low as 25,343.44.
Among the actives, China Resources Land skyrocketed 9.67 percent, while WuXi Biologics surged 7.21 percent, China Mengniu Dairy soared 6.51 percent, Alibaba Group spiked 6.28 percent, Techtronic Industries accelerated 4.93 percent, AAC Technologies rallied 4.45 percent, China Mobile jumped 3.95 percent, CITIC climbed 3.83 percent, CSPC Pharmaceutical advanced 3.32 percent, Galaxy Entertainment added 3.15 percent, Sands China spiked 2.98 percent, Wharf Real Estate gathered 2.89 percent, WH Group rallied 2.46 percent, AIA Group jumped 2.29 percent, China Life Insurance climbed 1.40 percent, Ping An Insurance advanced 1.31 percent, China Petroleum and Chemical (Sinopec) added 1.29 percent, Xiaomi Corporation gained 1.25 percent, BOC Hong Kong rose 1.11 percent, CNOOC increased 1.10 percent, Industrial and Commercial Bank of China collected 1.09 percent and Hong Kong & China Gas was up 0.71 percent.
The lead from Wall Street continues to be form as stocks opened sharply higher on Thursday and stayed that way, extending gains from the previous two sessions.
The Dow soared 542.52 points or 1.95 percent to finish at 28,390.18, while the NASDAQ surged 300.15 points or 2.59 percent to end at 11,890.93 and the S&P 500 jumped 67.01 points or 1.95 percent to close at 3,510.45.
The continued strength on Wall Street came as traders kept an eye on the latest news regarding the presidential election. Democratic nominee Joe Biden currently seems poised to unseat President Donald Trump, although Democrats are not expected to take control of the Senate.
Meanwhile, the members of the Federal Reserve decided to keep the target range for the federal funds rate at 0 to 0.25 percent, as widely expected. The accompanying statement said the Fed expects rates to remain unchanged until labor market reaches levels consistent with the central bank's assessments of maximum employment.
In U.S. economic news, the Labor Department reported a modest decrease in first-time claims for U.S. unemployment benefits last week; later today, the Labor Department will release its more closely watched report on employment in October.
Crude oil prices drifted lower Thursday, snapping a three-day winning streak as rising coronavirus cases and the delay in outcome of the U.S. Presidential election weighed on the commodity. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for December settled with a loss of $0.36 or 0.9 percent at $38.79 a barrel.
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