The win streak has reached six sessions for the Hong Kong Stock Market, which has soared more than 1,450 points or 4.8 percent along the way. The Hang Send Index now rests just above the 31,510-point plateau although it's overdue for profit taking on Friday.
The global forecast for the Asian markets is mixed to lower, with profit taking likely - especially among the technology stocks. The European markets were slightly lower and the U.S. bourses were mixed - and the Asian shares figure to split the difference.
The Hang Seng finished modestly higher on Thursday following gains from the financials and oil and insurance companies, while the properties were mixed.
For the day, the index climbed 253.53 points or 0.81 percent to finish at 31,512.63.
Among the actives, Ping An surged 2.15 percent, while China Mengniu Dairy soared 2.08 percent, WH Group spiked 1.90 percent, Industrial and Commercial Bank of China collected 1.51 percent, Galaxy Entertainment tumbled 1.44 percent, New World Development jumped 1.14 percent, China Life climbed 1.10 percent, Henderson Land skidded 0.97 percent, China Petroleum and Chemical (Sinopec) advanced 0.93 percent, China Mobile perked 0.90 percent, CNOOC added 0.75 percent and Hong Kong & China Gas shed 0.35 percent.
The lead from Wall Street is inconclusive as stocks were mixed on Thursday, with the Dow rising to its best closing level in three months, but the NASDAQ and the S&P 500 moved lower.
The Dow climbed 95.02 points or 0.38 percent to 25,241.41, but the NASDAQ slid 54.17 points or 0.70 percent to 7,635.07 and the S&P 500 fell 1.98 points or 0.07 percent to 2,770.37.
The advance by the Dow was fueled by a sharp jump from McDonald's (MCD), while the pullback by the NASDAQ was due to profit taking after the tech-heavy index hit new record highs in recent sessions.
In economic news, the Labor Department noted a modest decrease in initial jobless claims in the week ended June 2nd.
Crude oil futures rose Thursday, trimming recent losses after sliding to its lowest in two months. Robust U.S. production, a stronger dollar and expectations that OPEC will end its supply quota have weighed on oil prices of late. But with bargain hunting in effect, WTI light sweet oil was up $1 at $65.78 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.