The Hong Kong stock market bounced higher again on Thursday, one session after it had ended the two-day winning streak in which it had gathered almost 350 points or 1.2 percent. The Hang Seng Index now rests just beneath the 29,950-point plateau although it may head south again on Friday.
The global forecast for the Asian markets is soft on sliding crude oil prices and ahead of U.S. employment data later today. The European and U.S. markets were down and the Asian markets figure to open in similar fashion.
The Hang Seng finished modestly higher on Thursday as gains from the insurance companies and financials were capped by weakness from the oil companies.
For the day, the index climbed 245.08 points or 0.83 percent to finish at 29,944.18 after trading between 29,643.05 and 29,967.74.
Among the actives, China Mengniu Dairy surged 5.69 percent, while AIA Group soared 4.13 percent, AAC Technologies spiked 3.06 percent, Techtronic Industries jumped 2.03 percent, CNOOC tumbled 1.97 percent, WH Group skidded 1.72 percent, Sands China climbed 1.62 percent, Galaxy Entertainment advanced 1.19 percent, Ping An Insurance gathered 1.06 percent, China Mobile dropped 1.00 percent, New World Development perked 0.92 percent, CITIC added 0.88 percent, China Petroleum and Chemical (Sinopec) shed 0.50 percent, China Life Insurance gained 0.45 percent, Hong Kong & China Gas rose 0.43 percent, CSPC Pharmaceutical lost 0.26 percent and Industrial and Commercial Bank of China collected 0.17 percent.
The lead from Wall Street is weak as stock shrugged off a positive open Thursday but turned lower as the day progressed and finished in the red.
The Dow shed 122.35 points or 0.46 percent to 25,307.79, while the NASDAQ lost 12.87 points or 0.16 percent to 8,036.77 and the S&P 500 fell 6.21 points or 0.21 percent to 2,917.52.
The pullback on Wall Street was attributed to continued disappointment with Wednesday's remarks by Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell suggesting the central bank is not likely to lower interest rates in the near future as some had hoped.
Traders also moved out of risky assets such as stocks ahead of the Labor Department's closely watched monthly jobs report later today.
In economic news, the Labor Department said productivity surged 3.6 percent in the first quarter after climbing by a downwardly revised 1.3 percent in the fourth quarter. Also, the Commerce Department said new orders for manufactured goods jumped more than expected in March amid a rebound in orders for transportation equipment.
Crude oil futures fell to their lowest level in about a month on Thursday, weighed down by data showing record U.S. crude production and inventories. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for June ended down $1.79 or 2.8 percent at $61.81 a barrel, the lowest settlement since April 1.
Closer to home, Hong Kong will provide March data for retail sales later today; in February, sales skidded 10.4 percent on year.
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