The Hong Kong stock market has experienced gains for three consecutive sessions, accumulating over 200 points, representing an increase of approximately 0.9%. As a result, the Hang Seng Index is now slightly above the 20,700-mark, although it might not see significant movement on Wednesday.
The outlook for Asian markets is uncertain, but there is a possibility that technology stocks could provide a minor uplift. While European markets registered losses, the U.S. markets were mixed, suggesting that Asian markets might show a combination of these trends.
On Tuesday, the Hang Seng experienced a modest rise, buoyed by the performance of insurance companies, while real estate stocks weakened and technology stocks displayed mixed activity. The index increased by 101.78 points or 0.49%, closing at 20,701.14, after varying between 20,563.74 and 20,890.08 during the day.
Among key market players, Alibaba Group rose by 0.93%, Alibaba Health Information gained 0.50%, whereas ANTA Sports decreased by 0.63%. China Life Insurance saw an increase of 1.08%, and China Mengniu Dairy fell by 1.05%. Both China Resources Land and Henderson Land dropped by 1.56%, CITIC declined by 0.54%, CNOOC decreased by 1.50%, and both CSPC Pharmaceutical and Hong Kong & China Gas experienced a modest gain of 0.16%. Galaxy Entertainment edged up by 0.14%, while Hang Lung Properties retreated by 0.90%. JD.com registered a significant increase of 2.72%, Lenovo dipped by 1.10%, and Li Auto fell by 0.71%. Notable advancements were seen in Meituan, which soared by 2.21%, Techtronic Industries at 0.79%, and Xiaomi Corporation at 1.37%. WuXi Biologics declined sharply by 1.95%, while shares of Haier Smart Home, Li Ning, and the Industrial and Commercial Bank of China remained unchanged.
Wall Street provided an unclear direction as major indices opened lower on Tuesday but remained close to the baseline, ending mixed. The Dow Jones fell by 154.52 points or 0.36% to conclude at 42,233.05. Conversely, the NASDAQ rose by 145.56 points or 0.78% to set a new record at 18,712.75, and the S&P 500 increased by 9.40 points or 0.16% to finish at 5,832.92.
The NASDAQ's rise anticipates corporate earnings reports from prominent technology firms, including Alphabet (GOOGL), Advanced Micro Devices (AMD), Meta Platforms (META), Microsoft (MSFT), Amazon (AMZN), and Apple (AAPL). Semiconductor stocks, in particular, showed robust growth, leading the Philadelphia Semiconductor Index to surge by 2.3%.
In U.S. economic developments, the Conference Board highlighted a significant improvement in consumer confidence in October. The Labor Department also reported a decline in job openings to 7.44 million in September, down from a revised figure of 7.86 million in August.
Oil futures experienced another decrease on Tuesday amid worries that crude supply might significantly overshoot short-term demand. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for December fell by $0.17, or approximately 0.25%, concluding at $67.21 per barrel.
