The Hong Kong stock market has finished lower in two of three trading days since the end of the two-day winning streak in which it had gathered more than 475 points or 2.6 percent. The Hang Seng Index finished just below the 18,600-point plateau, and now traders are expecting additional selling pressure for the market when it opens on Monday.
The global forecast for the Asian markets suggests mild selling pressure on Monday, with continued concerns over the European debt situation offset by surprisingly strong U.S. employment data. Technology stocks figure to provide support, while gold and steel companies are likely to see selling pressure. The European markets finished firmly in the red on Friday, and the U.S. bourses were mixed but little changed - and the Asian markets are expected to split the difference.
The Hang Seng finished sharply lower on Friday following losses from the financial shares, although the oil companies provided a measure of support.
For the day, the index plummeted 220.35 points or 1.17 percent to finish at 18,593.06 after trading between 18,506.58 and 18,784.86 on volume of 43.78 billion Hong Kong dollars.
Among the actives, HSBC shed 2.0 percent, Bank of China lost 2.1 percent and Bank of Communications fell 2.0 percent, while CNOOC jumped 3.0 percent, PetroChina climbed 2.3 percent and Sinopec added 1.9 percent.
The lead from Wall Street is a mixed message as stocks turned in a lackluster performance on Friday, shrugging off another upbeat U.S. employment report amid continued concerns about the ongoing European debt crisis. A lack of conviction among traders contributed to the choppy trading.
The lack of direction came despite a report from the Labor Department showing that the U.S. economy added 200,000 jobs in December following a downwardly revised increase of 100,000 jobs in November. Economists had expected an increase of 150,000 jobs. The unemployment rate fell to 8.5 percent in December from a revised 8.7 percent in November. With the drop, the unemployment rate fell to its lowest level since 8.3 percent in February of 2009.
Continued concerns about the financial situation in Europe overshadowed the upbeat U.S. jobs data, however, with selling pressure generated by news that Fitch Ratings downgraded Hungary to junk status. Fitch attributed the downgrade to a further deterioration in the country's fiscal and external financing environment and growth outlook. Adding to the concerns, European Central Bank said overnight deposits by European commercial banks reached a new record high of 455.3 billion euros.
Among individual stocks, Family Dollar (FDO) fell by 7.5 percent after the discount retailer reported first quarter earnings of $0.68 per share on revenues of $2.15 billion. Analysts had expected the company to earn $0.68 per share on revenues of $2.17 billion. The company reaffirmed its 2012 earnings guidance.
The major averages eventually ended the session mixed, with the tech-heavy NASDAQ edging up 4.36 points or 0.2 percent to 2,674.22, while the Dow fell 55.78 points or 0.5 percent to 12,359.92 and the S&P 500 slipped 3.25 points or 0.3 percent to 1,277.81. Despite the mixed bag, the major averages all moved higher for the holiday-shortened week due to the rally on Tuesday. The NASDAQ jumped by 2.7 percent, while the Dow and the S&P 500 rose by 1.2 percent and 1.6 percent, respectively.
In economic news, China's foreign direct investment was $115 billion in 2011, up 9 percent from 2010, the Ministry of Commerce said on Friday. FDI totaled $103.769 billion during the January to November period, up 13.15 percent year-on-year. In November, the actually used foreign investment totaled $8.757 billion, down 9.76 percent on year.
In corporate news, China Petroleum and Chemical Corp. (Sinopec) produced 16.8 percent more natural gas in 2011, while crude oil production edged up 0.4 percent, the company said on Friday. Sinopec's crude oil throughput and oil product output increased 2.7 percent from a year earlier. The company discovered 29 percent more crude reserves than a year earlier and 81.4 percent more natural gas reserves in the year 2011. Sinopec in 2010 had processed 4.24 million barrels per day of crude oil, and produced 851,200 bpd of crude oil and 12.3 billion cubic meters of gas in its domestic fields.
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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.