The Hong Kong stock market has finished higher in two straight sessions, almost 160 points or 0.6 percent along the way. The Hang Seng Index now rests just above the 27,690-point plateau and it's tipped to open in the green again on Tuesday.
The global forecast for the Asian markets is cautiously optimistic, with upward momentum from last week's U.S. jobs report likely capped by a decline in crude oil prices. The European markets were mixed and flat, while the U.S. bourses were slightly higher - and the Asian markets figure to split the difference.
The Hang Seng finished modestly higher on Monday as gains from the insurance and telecoms were capped by weakness from the oil companies and casinos.
For the day, the index jumped 127.68 points or 0.46 percent to finish at 27,690.36 after trading between 27,629.20 and 27,731.92.
Among the actives, Tencent Holdings surge d 2.95 percent, while China Mobile picked up 0.30 percent, CITIC spiked 2.51 percent, BOC Hong Kong climbed 1.15 percent, New World Development dropped 1.12 percent, China Resources Land gained 0.62 percent, China Mengniu Dairy added 0.39 percent, Industrial and Commercial Bank of China collected 0.36 percent, Ping An perked 0.34 percent, Galaxy Entertainment lost 0.31 percent, China Life gathered 0.20 percent, CNOOC fell 0.11 percent and China Petroleum and Chemical (Sinopec) and Lenovo Group were unchanged.
The lead from Wall Street is cautiously optimistic as stocks moved slightly higher on Monday, allowing the Dow to hit a fresh record high close for the ninth straight session.
The NASDAQ climbed 32.21 points or 0.5 percent to 6,383.77, while the Dow added 25.61 points or 0.1 percent to 22,118.42 and the S&P 500 rose 4.08 points or 0.2 percent to 2,480.91.
The modest strength reflected ongoing positive sentiment following last Friday's upbeat monthly jobs report - although the stronger than expected job growth also raised concerns about the outlook for interest rates.
Oil service stocks were substantially lower on Monday, dragging the Philadelphia Oil Service Index down 2.6 percent as crude for September delivery fell $0.19 to $49.39 a barrel.
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May 08, 2026 15:50 ET Manufacturing and services sector survey results and labor market data from main economies were the highlight on the economics news front this week. Factory orders and jobs report dominated the news flow in the U.S. Similarly, industrial production data from German garnered attention in Europe. In Asia, purchasing managers’ survey results from China and the central bank decision from Australia were in focus.