Hong Kong shares up 7%; Asian markets mixed ahead of US jobs reports
Hong Kong Stock Exchange in Hong Kong, China, Wednesday 13 July 2022.
Paul Yeung | Bloomberg | Getty Images
Shares in Hong Kong briefly rose 7% on Friday, with cyclical technology and consumer stocks driving the rally amid China reopening rumors and a report that US inspections of Chinese company audits were completed faster than expected.
The The Hang Seng Index was last up 6.84%, while the Hang Seng Tech index rose 9.28%. Shares in the city have reacted to speculation about a potential reopening of China as the zero-Covid policy persists, dragging the economy.
In mainland China is Shanghai Composite Index climbed 2.54% and Shenzhen component increased 3.366%.
Stefanie Holtze-Jen, APAC CIO at Deutsche Bank, said China̵[ads1]7;s reopening remains an uncertainty, but it is “exciting to see these rumors coming.”
“The market seems to think that if there’s smoke, there must be fire,” she said, adding that she was watching announcements about the upcoming Shanghai marathon and articles in the Chinese Communist Party newspaper, the People’s Daily, for changes in tone .
She also told CNBC’s “Capital Connection” that she is paying close attention to economic meetings in December.
Other Asia-Pacific markets continued to process the Fed’s 75 basis point rate hike and looked forward to the jobs report.
Japanese Nikkei 225 fell 1.75% after a holiday on Thursday. The Topix fell 1.37 percent. In South Korea is Kospi added 0.48%. MSCI’s broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan was 2.6% higher.
Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 rose 0.5 percent. The Reserve Bank of Australia published its monetary policy statement on Friday.
Asia-Pacific currencies gradually strengthened US dollar index slipped.
The monthly US employment report is scheduled to be released later. Economists expected 205,000 jobs were added in October, and the forecast remained at 3.5%, according to Dow Jones.
Overnight, US stocks fell for a fourth session in a row. The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 146.51 points, or 0.46%, to 32,001.25. The S&P 500 lost 1.06% to end at 3,719.89, while the Nasdaq Composite fell 1.73% to settle at 10,342.94.
— CNBC’s Samantha Subin, Carmen Reinicke contributed to this report.
