Ahead of the Dragon Boat Festival holiday on Monday, the Hong Kong stock market has experienced a decline in two out of the three trading days following a two-day rally where it gained over 360 points or 2%. The Hang Seng Index is currently positioned just below the 18,370 mark and is anticipated to open positively on Tuesday.
The global outlook for Asian markets appears relatively stable with a slight upward trend expected, ahead of the Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) statement on Wednesday. European markets saw a drop, while U.S. markets showed gains, suggesting a minimal increase for Asian markets.
On Friday, the Hang Seng closed modestly lower due to losses in property, insurance, and technology stocks. The index dropped by 109.85 points or 0.59%, closing at 18,366.95, after trading within a range of 18,302.33 to 18,575.69.
Key market movers included:
- Alibaba Health Information Technology, which advanced 2.12%
- ANTA Sports and Hong Kong & China Gas, both up by 0.17%
- China Life Insurance, down by 0.18%
- China Mengniu Dairy, which fell sharply by 2.59%
- China Resources Land, which gained 0.69%
- CITIC, down by 0.50%
- CNOOC, up by 0.71%
- Country Garden, which tumbled 1.93%
- CSPC Pharmaceutical, rose by 1.01%
- Galaxy Entertainment, which slipped 1.11%
- Hang Lung Properties, decreased by 0.80%
- Henderson Land, down by 0.87%
- Industrial and Commercial Bank of China, rose by 1.14%
- JD.com, fell by 1.45%
- Lenovo, which plummeted 6.83%
- Li Ning, increased by 1.21%
- Meituan, down by 2.04%
- New World Development, edged up by 0.12%
- Techtronic Industries, dropped 2.76%
- Xiaomi Corporation, decreased by 1.89%
- WuXi Biologics, retreated by 1.56%
- Alibaba Group, remained flat.
U.S. markets showed mild gains on Monday after opening lower and gradually moving into positive territory. The Dow Jones Industrial Average added 69.05 points or 0.18% to close at 38,868.04, the NASDAQ increased by 51.90 points or 0.35% to end at 17,192.53, and the S&P 500 rose by 13.80 points or 0.26%, finishing at 5,360.79.
Traders appeared cautious, avoiding major moves ahead of significant events later in the week, including the Federal Reserve's monetary policy meeting. The Fed is expected to announce its decision on Wednesday, with widespread expectations that interest rates will remain unchanged. Consequently, market participants are likely to focus on the Fed's economic and rate projections.
In advance of the Fed's announcement, the Labor Department is set to release its May report on consumer price inflation.
Crude oil prices surged on Monday amid positive sentiment about energy demand. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) Crude oil futures for July closed higher by $2.21, or approximately 2.9%, at $77.74 per barrel.
