The Hong Kong stock market turned right back to the upside again on Thursday - one session after it had halted the five-day winning streak in which it had gathered nearly 900 points or 2.3 percent on its way to a one-month closing high. The Hang Seng Index finished just below the 21,170-point plateau, and now investors are anticipating further profits when the market opens for business on Friday.
The global forecast for the Asian markets is fairly positive, thanks to better than expected employment data from the United States. Financials and pharmaceuticals are expected to provide support, although gold, property and airline stocks may weigh. The European and U.S. markets finished in positive territory, and the Asian markets are expected to follow that lead.
The Hang Seng finished modestly higher on Thursday, lifted by gains from the financial shares and energy producers.
For the day, the index jumped 78.41 points or 0.37 percent to finish at 21,167.27 after trading between 21,122.73 and 21,248.58 on turnover of 61.86 billion Hong Kong dollars.
Among the gainers, Li & Fung surged 5.5 percent, while China Unicom added 3.4 percent, China Construction Bank climbed 0.9 percent, Industrial and Commercial Bank of China gained 0.7 percent, Agricultural Bank collected 3.6 percent, Bank of China gathered 0.8 percent, CNOOC was up 1.6 percent and PetroChina gained 1 percent.
The lead from Wall Street is cautiously optimistic as stocks ended Thursday's session with modest gains, as jobless claims fell by more than forecast - although dark clouds from the European financial crisis limited the upside.
Initial upside in the markets came after data from the Labor Department showed that initial jobless claims fell to 451,000 in the week ended September 4th from the previous week's revised figure of 478,000.
Economists had only been expecting jobless claims to edge down to 470,000 from the 472,000 originally reported for the previous week.
With the bigger than expected decrease, jobless claims fell to their lowest level since falling to a nearly two-year low of 427,000 in the week ended July 7, although they remain at a relatively high level.
Stocks came off their highs in mid-afternoon trading following reports that Deutsche Bank (DB), Germany's largest bank, is mulling a share offering in order to raise roughly $11 billion in additional capital. The news served as a reminder of the continued turmoil among Europe's financial institutions.
The major averages saw some downside in late-session dealing but managed to end the day above the unchanged line. The Dow edged up by 28.23 points or 0.3 percent to end at 10,415.24, the NASDAQ rose by 7.33 points or 0.3 percent to 2,236.20 and the S&P 500 advanced by 5.31 points or 0.5 percent to 1,104.18.
In economic news, China will on Friday release August figures for imports, exports and trade balance. Imports are expected to climb 27.5 percent on year after adding an annual 22.7 percent in July. Exports are called higher by 35 percent on year following the 38.1 percent surge in the previous month. The trade balance is expected to show a surplus of $26.9 billion, down from the $28.73 billion surplus a month earlier.
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June 05, 2026 16:18 ET A busy week for economic news flow saw a slew of reports being released that reflected the trends in the U.S. labor market. In Europe, economic growth and inflation data gained attention as the European Central Bank and Bank of England head for policy session later in the month. In Asia, the monetary policy session of the Indian central bank was in focus as the country, a major oil importer, reels under the pressures of a weaker rupee and rising inflation.