The Hong Kong stock market has tracked higher in back-to-back trading days, gathering more than 435 points or 1.5 percent along the way. The Hang Send Index now rests just beneath the 30,500-point plateau and it may extend its gains on Monday.
The global forecast for the Asian markets is firm following strong employment data from the United States. The European and U.S. bourses were up and the Asian markets are expected to open in similar fashion.
The Hang Seng finished slightly higher on Friday as gains from the oil and insurance companies were capped by weakness from the casinos and a mixed picture from the properties.
For the day, the index added 24.35 points or 0.08 percent to finish at 30,492.91 after trading between 30,363.49 and 30,581.12.
Among the actives, Sands China plummeted 4.15 percent, while CNOOC surged 3.79 percent, Galaxy Entertainment plunged 3.19 percent, China Resources Land soared 2.43 percent, China Mengniu Dairy tumbled 2.11 percent, AIA Group skidded 1.46 percent, BOC Hong Kong dropped 1.14 percent, Sino Land jumped 0.88 percent, China Mobile climbed 0.79 percent, China Life advanced 0.68 percent, WH Group shed 0.62 percent, Pin An Insurance collected 0.59 percent, Hong Kong & China Gas added 0.35 percent, China Petroleum and Chemical (Sinopec) perked 0.26 percent, New World Development gained 0.17 percent, Industrial and Commercial Bank of China was up 0.15 percent and Lenovo Group and CITIC were unchanged.
The lead from Wall Street is broadly positive as stocks showed a strong move to the upside on Friday as traders reacted to upbeat employment data - allowing the NASDAQ to hit its best closing level in two months.
The Dow added 219.37 points or 0.90 percent to 24,635.21, the Nasdaq spiked 112.21 points or 1.51 percent to 7,554.33 and the S&P surged 29.35 points or 1.08 percent to 2,734.62. For the week, the Dow fell 0.5 percent, the NASDAQ jumped 1.6 percent and the S&P added 0.5 percent.
The strength followed the Labor Department report showing stronger than expected job growth in May. The unemployment fell to 3.8 percent in May from 3.9 percent in April, touching its lowest level since April 2000.
Also, the Institute for Supply Management noted that growth in manufacturing activity picked up more than expected in May.
Crude oil futures moved lower Friday as an upbeat jobs report lifted the dollar and dented commodities. July WTI oil fell $1.23 or 1.8 percent to $65.81/bbl. Oil suffered its worst week since April, down 3.1 percent.
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Market Analysis
May 01, 2026 15:54 ET Central banks dominated the economics news flow this week with almost all major ones announcing their latest policy decisions and many boosted expectations for a rate hike in June. In other news, several countries released the preliminary data for first quarter economic growth. In the U.S., comments by Fed Chair Jerome Powell were also in focus as his term ends this month.