The Hong Kong stock market on Friday wrote a finish to the brutal six-day losing streak that had cost it more than 1,230 points or 6.7 percent. The Hang Seng Index finished just above the 18,285-point plateau, although now analysts are forecasting renewed selling pressure when the market kicks off trade on Monday.
The global forecast for the Asian markets is mixed and somewhat flat, with positive sentiment from solid U.S. economic data countered by lingering concerns over European debt woes. Gold and oil are poised to provide mild support. The European markets finished slightly lower and the U.S. bourses ended mixed but little changed - and the Asian markets are tipped to split the difference.
The Hang Seng finished sharply higher on Friday following gains from the property stocks and financial shares.
For the day, the index surged 258.55 points or 1.43 percent to finish at 18,285.39 after trading between 18,025.60 and 18,390.41 on volume of 54.34 billion Hong Kong dollars.
Among the gainers, China Resources Land spiked 9.1 percent, while China Overseas Land climbed 5.4 percent, Evergrande surged 8.0 percent, Country Garden jumped 4.5 percent, Hong Kong Exchange added 1.9 percent and China Life gathered 0.7 percent.
Wall Street offers little in the way of guidance as stocks turned in a lackluster performance on Friday, after failing to sustain an initial upward move. Lingering concerns about the financial situation in Europe contributed to the choppy trading.
While stocks initially moved higher amid a drop by European bond yields, buying interest waned not long after the open. Late day weakness in Europe contributed to the subsequent pullback by the U.S. markets. Traders seemed reluctant to make any significant moves going into the weekend, as any news out of Europe could quickly make them regret their decision.
Nonetheless, the markets largely shrugged off news that Fitch Ratings affirmed France's AAA credit but revised the rating outlook to Negative from Stable. Fitch said the negative outlook is prompted by the heightened risk of contingent liabilities to the French state arising from the worsening economic and financial situation across the Eurozone. The ratings agency also placed its credit ratings for Belgium, Spain, Slovenia, Italy, Ireland and Cyprus on rating watch negative.
In U.S. economic news, the Labor Department released a report on consumer prices in November, showing that prices unexpectedly came in unchanged amid another notable decrease in energy prices. The report showed that the consumer price index was unchanged in November after edging up by 0.1 percent in October. Economists had expected the index to increase by 0.1 percent.
Among individual stocks, shares of Adobe Systems (ADBE) rose by 6.6 percent after the software developer reported stronger than expected fourth quarter results. The company also forecast first quarter and full year 2012 results in line with analyst estimates. On the other hand, shares of Research in Motion (RIMM) came under pressure after the mobile device maker reported better than expected third quarter earnings but provided disappointing fourth quarter guidance.
The major averages eventually ended the session mixed, with the Dow closing just below the unchanged line. The Dow edged down 2.42 points or less than a tenth of a percent to 11,866.39, while the NASDAQ rose 14.32 points or 0.6 percent to 2,555.33 and the S&P 500 climbed 3.91 points or 0.3 percent to 1,219.66. Despite the mixed performance on the day, the major averages all closed lower for the week. The Dow posted a weekly loss of 2.6 percent, and the NASDAQ and the S&P 500 dropped by 3.5 percent and 2.8 percent, respectively.
In economic news, Hong Kong is on Monday scheduled to release the seasonally adjusted unemployment rate for November. The rate is expected to hold steady at 3.3 percent.
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Market Analysis
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.