The Hong Kong stock market on Thursday wrote a finish to the two-day slide in which it had dropped more than 730 points or 2.4 percent. The Hang Send Index now rests just beneath the 30,470-point plateau although it's expected to see renewed selling pressure again on Friday.
The global forecast for the Asian markets is broadly negative on renewed concerns of a trade war plus a drop in crude oil prices. The European and U.S. markets were down and the Asian bourses figure to follow suit.
The Hang Seng finished sharply higher on Thursday following gains from the financials, casinos and oil and insurance companies.
For the day, the index soared 411.77 points or 1.37 percent to finish at 30,468.56 after trading between 30,148.43 and 30,533.58.
Among the actives, China Petroleum and Chemical (Sinopec) skyrocketed 6.09 percent, while China Mengniu Dairy surged 5.17 percent, Sino Land soared 3.98 percent, CNOOC spiked 2.48 percent, Sands China jumped 2.40 percent, AIA Group climbed 2.27 percent, Industrial and Commercial Bank of China collected 1.40 percent, Lenovo Group advanced 1.22 percent, Galaxy Entertainment perked 1.17 percent, BOC Hong Kong added 0.77 percent, WH Group skidded 0.74 percent, Ping An Insurance gained 0.65 percent, China Mobile shed 0.21 percent and Hong Kong & China Gas was up 0.12 percent.
The lead from Wall Street is weak as stocks moved mostly lower on Thursday, fluctuating as the day progressed before closing firmly in negative territory.
The Dow shed 251.94 points or 1.02 percent to 24,415.84, while the NASDAQ lost 20.34 points or 0.27 percent to 7,442.12 and the S&P 500 fell 18.74 points or 0.69 percent to 2,705.27.
The weakness followed news that the Trump administration plans to impose steel and aluminum tariffs on Canada, Mexico and the European Union - drawing threats of retaliation by some major U.S. allies.
In economic news, the Labor Department noted a bigger than expected decrease in first-time claims for U.S. unemployment benefits in the week ended May 26th.
Also, the Commerce Department said personal income increased as expected in April, while personal spending climbed by more than expected. And the National Association of Realtors noted a sharp decrease in pending home sales in April.
Crude oil futures were lower Thursday, giving back strong gains ahead of U.S. oil inventories data. July WTI oil dropped $1.17 or 1.7 percent to $67.04/bbl. Oil was down 2 percent in May but touched a four-year peak mid-month.
For comments and feedback contact: editorial@rttnews.com
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.