The win streak has hit three sessions for the Hong Kong stock market, which has climbed almost 360 points or 1.6 percent along the way. The Hang Seng Index now rests just above the 22,860-point plateau, and the market may see further upside again on Friday.
The global forecast for the Asian markets is positive thanks to the European Central Bank's highly anticipated monetary policy announcement. The European and U.S. markets were up and the Asian markets figure to follow suit.
The Hang Seng finished modestly higher on Thursday as gains from the oil companies and properties were tempered by weakness from the casinos and financials.
For the day, the index picked up 60.92 points or 0.27 percent to finish at 22,861.84 after trading between 22,817.32 and 23,076.24.
Among the actives, Tingyi Cayman Islands Holding surged 1.96 percent, while China Resources Land spiked 1.93 percent, AIA Group skidded 1.88 percent, CITIC jumped 1.18 percent, Li & Fung fell 1.17 percent, China Life retreated 1.11 percent, Galaxy Entertainment shed 0.92 percent, Bank of China lost 0.85 percent, CNOOC gained 0.78 percent, China Petroleum and Chemical (Sinopec) added 0.72 percent, Industrial and Commercial Bank of China collected 0.41 percent and HSBC fell 0.23 percent.
The lead from Wall Street is upbeat as stocks moved higher on Thursday as all three of the major averages hit new record closing highs.
The Dow rose 65.19 points or 0.3 percent to 19,614.81, while the NASDAQ climbed 23.59 points or 0.4 percent to 5,417.36 and the S&P added 4.84 points or 0.2 percent to 2,246.19.
The ECB said its asset purchase program is being extended longer than anticipated, the bank also said it will slow the pace of purchases. It will continue its asset purchases at the current monthly pace of 80 billion euros until the end of March 2017.
In economic news, the Labor Department said that initial jobless claims pulled back in the week ended December 3 after reaching a five-month high in the previous week.
Strength among oil service stocks came amid a notable increase by the price of crude oil, with crude for January delivery jumping $1.07 to $50.84 a barrel.
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April 17, 2026 15:29 ET The ongoing conflict in the Middle East continues to raise concerns for policymakers who worry about the impact of the supply shock and high energy prices on the real economy. Producer price data and various survey results on the housing market were the main news from the U.S. this week. In Europe, industrial production data for the euro area gained attention. GDP figures out of China and the policy move by the Singapore central bank were in focus in Asia.