The Hang Seng Index climbed about 1.6%, or 392 points, in early Friday trading, rebounding from the previous session’s drop that had pushed the benchmark to an 11‑month low. The advance came amid improving global risk sentiment, which lifted equities across the region. Investor confidence was bolstered after US President Donald Trump said talks with Iran had made substantial progress, fueling expectations that a peace agreement could be reached as early as this weekend. The potential easing of geopolitical tensions strengthened demand for risk assets worldwide.
At the same time, oil prices fell to two‑month lows as worries over possible supply disruptions subsided, providing support to sectors that are sensitive to fuel costs. Heavyweight financial, technology, and retail stocks led the market higher, while the communications sector was the only group to record a slight decline. Among individual names, AIA (+1.4%), Semiconductor (+3.3%), Kingboard (+4.4%), Lenovo (+2.2%), Knowledge Atlas (+7.3%), and Dongyue (+10.0%) were among the strongest performers.
