The Hong Kong stock market on Friday snapped the two-day winning streak in which it had climbed more than 470 points or 1.8 percent. The Hang Seng Index now sits just beneath the 26,500-point plateau and it figures to be rangebound in that neighborhood again on Monday.
The global forecast for the Asian is hanging on the emergence of economic stimulus in the United States, which traders hope will pass in the hours leading up to today's market open. The European and U.S, markets ended in the red on Friday and the Asian markets will have a similarly soft lead until a coronavirus relief bill passes.
The Hang Seng finished modestly lower on Friday as losses from the financials, casinos and insurance companies were mitigated by support from the oil stocks and a mixed picture from the property sector.
For the day, the index shed 179.78 points or 0.67 percent to finish at 26,498.60 after trading between 26,363.05 and 26,668.10.
Among the actives, China Mobile surged 3.17 percent, while CSPC Pharmaceutical plummeted 3.09 percent, CNOOC soared 2.40 percent, Galaxy Entertainment plunged 2.36 percent, CLP Holdings spiked 2.34 percent, BOC Hong Kong tanked 2.27 percent, China Mengniu Dairy tumbled 2.15 percent, Wharf Real Estate rallied 2.03 percent, Ping An Insurance skidded 2.00 percent, Xiaomi Corporation retreated 1.71 percent, AIA Group declined 1.59 percent, Sun Hung Kai Properties surrendered 1.25 percent, New World Development jumped 1.08 percent, Alibaba Group sank 0.93 percent, Industrial and Commercial Bank of China dropped 0.86 percent, China Life Insurance shed 0.58 percent, China Petroleum and Chemical advanced 0.58 percent, Techtronic Industries added 0.56 percent, Hong Kong & China Gas lost 0.52 percent, AAC Technologies fell 0.47 percent, WH Group gained 0.31 percent, Sands China slid 0.29 percent, Power Assets rose 0.12 percent, WuXi Biologics was up 0.11 percent and Hengan International, CITIC and China Resources Land were unchanged.
The lead from Wall Street is soft as stocks opened slightly lower on Friday and remained mostly in the red throughout the session
The Dow shed 124.35 points or 0.41 percent to finish at 30,179.05, while the NASDAQ eased 9.06 points or 0.07 percent to close at 12,755.64 and the S&P 500 fell 13.07 points or 0.35 percent to close at 3,709.41. For the week, the Dow added 0.4 percent, the NASDAQ jumped 3.1 percent and the S&P rose 1.3 percent.
The pullback on Wall Street partly reflected profit taking, as traders cashed in on recent gains after Thursday's climb to record closing highs. Apprehension for a coronavirus relief bill also nudged stocks lower.
Upbeat news on the coronavirus vaccine front helped limit the downside for the markets, with an FDA advisory panel giving a positive recommendation to Moderna's (MRNA) vaccine candidate.
Crude oil futures ended higher on Friday amid dwindling inventories and on that hopes energy demand will pick up after another coronavirus vaccine got the nod from the U.S. drug regulator. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for January ended up $0.74 or 1.5 percent at $49.10 a barrel.
Closer to home, Hong Kong will release November inflation data later today; in October, consumer prices were down 0.2 percent on year.
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