The win streak has hit four sessions for the Hong Kong stock market, which has surged almost 800 points or 3 percent in that span. The Hang Seng Index now rests just shy of the 27,850-point plateau, although investors figure to cash in on Monday.
The global forecast for the Asian markets is roughly flat amid a lack of catalysts, with a mild bump in crude oil prices limiting any downside. The European and U.S. markets were mixed and flat, and the Asian bourses figure to follow suit.
The Hang Seng finished sharply higher on Friday following gains from the financial shares and oil companies, while the casinos were soft.
For the day, the index surged 329.56 points or 1.20 percent to finish at 27,848.16 after trading between 27,480.11 and 27,878.37.
Among the actives, China Life surged 4.17 percent, while Industrial and Commercial Bank of China soared 3.47 percent, BOC Hong Kong spiked 3.25 percent, CNOOC advanced 2.74 percent, China Petroleum and Chemical (Sinopec) perked 2.45 percent, China Resources Land tumbled 1.49 percent, Galaxy Entertainment dropped 1.46 percent, Sands China lost 0.72 percent, New World Development added 0.39 percent, Lenovo Group gained 0.23 percent, China Mobile gathered 0.23 percent and Ping An Insurance was unchanged.
The lead from Wall Street is murky as stocks turned mixed on Friday, after failing to sustain an early upward move.
The NASDAQ fell 5.68 points or 0.1 percent to 6,265.64, while the Dow added 30.27 points or 0.1 percent to 21,813.67 and the S&P gained 4.08 points or 0.2 percent to 2,443.05. For the week, the Dow rose 0.6 percent, NASDAQ was up 0.8 percent and the S&P gained 0.7 percent.
The early strength was due to optimism about tax reform after reports President Donald Trump would launch a public campaign to highlight the need for reform this week.
Traders also reacted to Federal Reserve Chair Janet Yellen's remarks at the Fed's economic policy symposium in Jackson Hole, Wyoming. She refrained from discussing monetary policy, focusing on the topic of financial stability a decade after the onset of the financial crisis.
European Central Bank President Mario Draghi also spoke at the symposium, saying the global economic recovery is "firming up."
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