FX.co ★ Hong Kong Stocks Extend Rally as Trump Pauses Levies

In Hong Kong, the stock market posted a significant rise of 542 points, or 2.6%, reaching 21,461 on Monday morning. This marks its fifth consecutive session of gains and pushes it to its highest point in two months. The rally was primarily driven by improved investor confidence following the Trump administration's decision to pause tariffs on Chinese electronic imports. Additionally, there were positive market reactions to data revealing that China’s new yuan loans surged to CNY 3.64 trillion in March, a significant increase from CNY 1,010 billion in February, well surpassing expectations. This growth was fueled by robust household and corporate borrowing. However, market enthusiasm was somewhat dampened by U.S. Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick's remarks clarifying that the tariff relief was “not permanent.” Some investors also adopted a cautious stance in anticipation of China's forthcoming trade data for March, expected later in the day. The rally was broad-based, with technology, financial, and consumer stocks leading the charge. Notably, large-cap companies such as Lenovo Group saw impressive gains of 8.6%, along with Sunny Optical rising by 6.2%, Zhejiang Leapmotor climbing 4.9%, and other companies like SMIIC and Pop Mart Intl. increasing by 3.0% and 2.8%, respectively.