The Hong Kong stock market rebounded on Wednesday, one session after it had snapped the two-day winning streak in which it had advanced almost 230 points or 0.8 percent. The Hang Seng Index now rests just above the 27,655-point plateau and it's looking at another green light again on Thursday.
The global forecast for the Asian markets is upbeat in easing coronavirus concerns and a spike in crude oil prices. The European and U.S. markets were up and the Asian bourses figure to follow that lead.
The Hang Seng finished modestly higher on Wednesday following gains from the oil and insurance companies and property stocks.
For the day, the index gained 125.61 points or 0.46 percent to finish at 27,655.81 after trading between 27,448.60 and 27,697.46.
Among the actives, WH Group surged 3.74 percent, while China Resources Land and China Mobile both soared 1.98 percent, China Life Insurance spiked 1.14 percent, Industrial and Commercial Bank of China accelerated 0.91 percent, Tencent Holdings advanced 0.78 percent, CNOOC jumped 0.67 percent, Ping An Insurance perked 0.44 percent, Sands China dropped 0.37 percent, China Mengniu Dairy sank 0.34 percent, China Petroleum and Chemical (Sinopec) added 0.24 percent, New World Development gained 0.19 percent, BOC Hong Kong shed 0.18 percent, Hong Kong & China Gas rose 0.13 percent, CSPC Pharmaceutical was up 0.10 percent and AIA Group and Power Assets were unchanged.
The lead from Wall Street is positive as stocks moved mostly higher on Wednesday, erasing losses from the previous session.
The Dow added 115.84 points or 0.40 percent to finish at 29,348.03, while the NASDAQ gained 84.44 points or 0.87 percent to 9,817.18 and the S&P 500 rose 15.86 points or 0.47 percent to 3,386.15.
Easing concerns about the coronavirus outbreak contributed to the strength on Wall Street after Chinese officials reported the lowest number of newly confirmed cases since late January.
A rebound by shares of Apple (AAPL) also generated some positive sentiment, with the tech giant jumping by 1.5 percent after slumping by 1.8 percent on Tuesday.
In economic news, the Labor Department said producer prices increased more than expected in January. Also, the Commerce Department noted a pullback in new residential construction last month.
Toward the end of the trading day, the Federal Reserve released the minutes of its latest monetary policy meeting, which reiterated Fed officials believe leaving interest rates at their current levels is likely to remain appropriate for some time.
Crude oil prices rose sharply on Wednesday as concerns about the outlook for energy demand eased after reports said the number of coronavirus cases fell down for a second straight day in China. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for March rose $1.24, or 2.4 percent at $53.29 a barrel.
Closer to home, Hong Kong will release consumer price data for January later today; in December, inflation was up 2.9 percent on year.
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