The Hong Kong stock market saw gains in two out of three trading sessions, recovering from a previous two-day loss that cost nearly 400 points or 2.5 percent. Despite the recent incline pushing the Hang Seng Index over the 16,540-point mark, some of these gains could be lost on Tuesday.
Global predictions for Asian markets remain uncertain, primarily due to ambiguous interest rate prospects. While European markets experienced growth and the U.S. stock market had mixed outcomes, Asian markets are likely to follow the U.S. trajectory.
On Monday, the Hang Seng ended slightly high, with property and technology shares leaning towards gain. The index rose 148.62 points or 0.91 percent, ending at 16,541.42, having fluctuated between 16,345.90 and 16,725.61 throughout the day.
Among the active shares, Alibaba Group appreciated 2.11 percent, Alibaba Health Info increased 0.32 percent, ANTA Sports went up 1.46 percent while China Life Insurance surged 5.15 percent. However, not all shares experienced such a positive outcome: China Mengniu Dairy fell by 1.64 percent, CITIC decreased 0.79 percent, and Country Garden declined by a substantial 4.93 percent.
U.S. markets started the week mixed; the major averages opened modestly high but operated in a loss for much of Monday. However, NASDAQ saw a small gain towards the end of the day. The Dow fell 240.52 points or 0.60 percent to close at 39,566.85, while NASDAQ added 17.37 points or 0.11 percent to close at 16,396.83. The S&P 500 dropped by 10.58 points ending at 5,243.77.
The initial rise in Wall Street can be attributed to traders responding to last Friday's U.S. consumer price inflation data, aligning with expectations. Nevertheless, traders remained cautious, speculating on whether inflation would slow down enough to warrant expected interest rate cuts by the Federal Reserve. Stock pullback occurred as a report from the Institute for Supply Management demonstrated modest growth in U.S. manufacturing activity in March, subsequently pushing Treasury yields higher.
Oil prices also saw a rise on Monday due to supply concerns following reports of an Israeli attack near the Iranian embassy in Damascus. Consequently, future West Texas Intermediate Crude oil for May increased by $0.54 or 0.65 percent, closing at $83.71 a barrel.
