Hong Kong's stock market opened with a broad decline on Thursday, with all three major indices starting the session in negative territory. The Hang Seng Index dropped 0.94% to 24,480.57 points at the open. Meanwhile, the Hang Seng Tech Index fell 1.03%, and the Hang Seng China Enterprises Index slipped 0.97%.
The bearish start follows a downbeat performance on Wall Street overnight. As widely anticipated, the Federal Reserve raised its benchmark interest rate by a quarter percentage point, but the accompanying dot plot indicated the possibility of another rate hike before year-end. This dampened market sentiment, causing all three major U.S. indices to close in the red. The dollar strengthened, while the yield on the U.S. 10-year Treasury note climbed to around 5.02%. Gold prices came under pressure, and oil prices retreated from recent highs.
In sector-specific trading on the Hong Kong exchange, technology and internet stocks were broadly weaker. TENCENT, BIDU, MEITUAN, XIAOMI-W, KUAISHOU-W, NTES, JD-SW, and BABA-W each declined by more than 1%. On the other hand, memory and storage concept stocks showed some resilience, with Jiangbolong rising over 1%. Conversely, gold stocks took a hit, as Lingbao Gold tumbled more than 3%, and oil-related shares also lost ground, with CNOOC falling over 1%.
Market participants are now closely monitoring how these external factors will shape trading momentum throughout the session, as uncertainty over U.S. monetary policy continues to weigh on investor confidence globally.
Comments