In morning trading on Thursday, Hong Kong stocks increased by 145 points, or 0.6%, reaching 26,487, recovering from the minor losses experienced in the previous session. The trading day followed the reopening after Wednesday's holiday. The financial and consumer sectors were the primary drivers of this uptrend, thanks in part to slight upticks in U.S. futures due to the Federal Reserve's 25 basis point interest rate cut. In alignment with this, the Hong Kong Monetary Authority also reduced borrowing costs to their lowest since November 2022.
On the international trade scene, U.S. President Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping are expected to finalize a trade and tariff agreement in South Korea today, following prolonged tensions. Nonetheless, further gains in the market were restrained ahead of significant releases: China's October Purchasing Managers Index (PMI) data and Hong Kong’s third-quarter GDP report. Meanwhile, Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell indicated that another rate cut is not yet certain.
Early market leaders included gold miners such as Zijin Mining Group with a rise of 5.3% and Zhaojin Mining Industry up by 3.3%. Additionally, influential companies such as Tencent Holdings, Meituan, and China Hongqiao Group saw increases of 1.6%, 1.1%, and 6.3%, respectively.
