The Hong Kong stock market bounced higher again on Monday, one session after it had ended the three-day winning streak in which it had jumped almost 850 points or 3 percent. The Hang Seng Index now rests just above the 28,830-point plateau and it's expected to remain in that neighborhood again on Tuesday.
The global forecast for the Asian suggests mild upside on easing bond yields ahead of Wednesday's Federal Reserve meeting. The European markets were down and the U.S. bourses were up and the Asian markets are called mixed with an upside bias.
The Hang Seng finished modestly higher on Monday following gains from the oil companies, financials and casinos, while the properties and technology stocks were mixed.
For the day, the index collected 94.04 points or 0.33 percent to finish at 28,833.76 after trading between 28,612.74 and 29,178.99.
Among the actives, AAC Technologies added 0.82 percent, while AIA Group soared 4.17 percent, Alibaba Group tumbled 2.04 percent, ANTA Sports tanked 4.37 percent, BOC Hong Kong rallied 2.12 percent, China Life Insurance improved 0.49 percent, China Mengniu Dairy was up 0.12 percent, China Petroleum and Chemical (Sinopec) spiked 3.71 percent, China Resources Land surged 5.15 percent, CITIC perked 1.35 percent, CNOOC gathered 1.56 percent, CSPC Pharmaceutical lost 0.74 percent, Galaxy Entertainment jumped 2.04 percent, Hang Lung Properties fell 0.51 percent, Henderson Land gained 0.74 percent, Hong Kong & China Gas rose 0.51 percent, Industrial and Commercial Bank of China collected 2.19 percent, Meituan plunged 4.74 percent, New World Development climbed 2.01 percent, Ping An Insurance advanced 0.98 percent, Sands China accelerated 3.49 percent, Sun Hung Kai Properties shed 0.76 percent, Techtronic Industries increased 0.47 percent, Xiaomi Corporation skyrocketed 7.03 percent and WuXi Biologics plummeted 5.15 percent.
The lead from Wall Street ended up being positive as stocks languished near the unchanged line throughout Monday morning before breaking well into the green in the afternoon.
The Dow jumped 174.82 points or 0.53 percent to finish at 32,953.46, while the NASDAQ spiked 139.84 points or 1.05 percent to end at 13,459.71 and the S&P 500 gained 25.60 points or 0.65 percent to close at 3,968.94.
The strength that emerged on Wall Street reflected optimism about the economic outlook amid stepped up coronavirus vaccination efforts and the recent passage of a new $1.9 trillion stimulus bill.
A pullback by treasury yields may also have generated some buying interest, with the ten-year yield moving lower after ending last Friday's trading at its highest closing level in over a year.
Trading activity was subdued, however, as traders looked ahead to the Federal Reserve's monetary policy announcement on Wednesday. Traders are hoping the Fed will address the recent spike in bond yields, which has led to considerable volatility in Wall Street in recent sessions.
Crude oil futures ended lower on Monday with traders weighing energy demand prospects in the wake of a spike in coronavirus cases in Europe. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for April slid $0.22 or 0.3 percent at $65.39 a barrel.
Closer to home, Hong Kong will see February figures for unemployment later today, with forecasts suggesting a jobless rate of 7.5 percent - up from 7.0 percent in January.
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