Hang Seng Index edges up despite early dips in Tencent, HSBC share price

Hong Kong equity benchmark Hang Seng Index is finishing the week on a better note.

The index rose up nearly 1% an hour into trading on Friday 03 April, amid what has been a relatively uneventful week for the markets, especially considering the mayhem of recent weeks.

Pre-market fair price estimates based on IG data had pointed to healthier Friday levels, with HSI futures trading 1.73% higher as at 05:00 HKT on 03 April.

Read also: Top 5 Hong Kong stocks to watch amid the coronavirus

‘Lack of inspiration’ from Wall Street

Thursday’s session was also a move in the right direction for the Hang Seng, as it rallied nearly 400 points to finish 1.7% higher for the day, despite what IG Asia market strategist Pan Jingyi calls a ‘lack of inspiration’ from Wall Street.

Still, she warns that caution may set in for the market in the afternoon ‘as we await weak US jobs numbers after seeing another record jobless claims reading and as the region breaks for the weekend’.

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Leading the Hang Seng’s early gain on Friday were: Bank of China Hong Kong (+3.4%); Chinese telecommunications provider China Mobile (+2%); state-owned Chinese telco China Unicom (+5.47%); transport operator MTR Corporation (+2.5%); and property developer China Overseas Land and Investment (+1.7%).

Early losers included: internet and technology firm Tencent (-1.2%) – which contributed a 20% index change; UK financial institution HSBC (-2.2%); Chinese insurance firm Ping An Insurance (-1.0%); and China Construction Bank (-0.8%).

Read also: Why is the Tencent share price rising when other Hong Kong stocks are falling?

Hang Seng Index crashed 16.3% in first quarter of 2020

The HSI was up as much as 2% earlier in the week, when it opened nearly 500 points at the start of Tuesday’s (31 March) market, buoyed by better-than-expected China Purchasing Managers’ Index for the month of March.

This week’s improvement is a reverse of last week, when the benchmark had plunged 4.86% on 23 March - its largest one-day drop so far this year.

For the first quarter of 2020, the Hang Seng Index recorded a 16.3% loss, thanks to the coronavirus pandemic which has gripped global financial markets and trading sentiments.

Across the region, China’s Shanghai Composite Index plummeted 10% for the first three months of the year, Japan’s Nikkei 225 Index and South Korea’s Kospi both took a 20% hit, while Australia’s ASX 200 fared the worst, collapsing 24%.

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