The Hong Kong stock market on Monday wrote a finish to the three-day losing streak in which it had plummeted more than 1,200 points or 4 percent. The Hang Seng Index now rests just beneath the 30,550-point plateau and it's called higher again on Tuesday.
The global forecast for the Asian markets is upbeat, with bargain hunting expected amid easing concerns over a trade war between the United States and China. The European markets were down and the U.S. bourses were firmly higher - and the Asian markets figure to follow the latter lead.
The Hang Seng finished modestly higher on Monday as gains from the oil companies and casinos were capped by weakness from the insurance stocks.
For the day, the index advanced 239.48 points or 0.79 percent to finish at the daily high of 30,548.77 after moving as low as 29,995.16.
Among the actives, China Petroleum and Chemical (Sinopec) surged 5.16 percent, while WH Group plummeted 4.21 percent, Galaxy Entertainment soared 2.87 percent, AIA Group spiked 2.42 percent, CNOOC jumped 2.09 percent, Industrial and Commercial Bank of China collected 1.05 percent, China Mengniu Dairy advanced 0.84 percent, Sands China added 0.60 percent, New World Development gained 0.54 percent, Ping An Insurance dropped 0.53 percent, China Life skidded 0.45 percent, BOC Hong Kong shed 0.38 percent, China Mobile lost 0.35 percent, Lenovo Group picked up 0.24 percent, Hong Kong & China Gas eased 0.12 percent and Power Assets Holdings, CITIC and Hang Lung Properties were unchanged.
The lead from Wall Street is broadly positive as stocks opened sharply higher Monday and finished with solid gains following last week's selloff.
The Dow jumped 669.40 points or 2.84 percent to 24,202.60, while the NASDAQ spiked 227.88 points or 3.26 percent to 7,220.54 and the S&P added 70.29 points or 2.72 percent to 2,658.55.
Bargain hunting contributed to the rally on Wall Street, with the Dow bouncing off its lowest closing level in nearly four months.
Traders picked up stocks at reduced levels amid easing concerns of a potential trade war between the U.S. and China. Chinese Premier Li Keqiang also said that the U.S. and China should maintain negotiations to avoid a trade war.
Crude oil prices fell Monday, ending a recent hot streak despite a weak U.S. dollar. Traders engaged in profit-taking after oil went to a seven-week high. May WTI oil fell 33 cents or 0.5 percent to settle at $65.55/bbl.
Closer to home, Hong Kong will provide February numbers for imports, exports and trade balance later today. In January, imports were worth 381.97 billion HKD and exports were at 350.05 billion HKD for a trade deficit of 31.92 billion HKD.
For comments and feedback: editorial@rttnews.com