Hong Kong: Stocks surge more than 3% at open
HONG Kong stocks rallied more than 3 per cent at the open on Thursday, extending the previous two days’ big gains, after Federal Reserve chief Jerome Powell indicated the bank will slow down its pace of interest rate hikes. The Hang Seng Index jumped 3.22 per cent, or 598.84 points, to 19,196.07. The Shanghai Composite Index climbed 1.16 per cent, or 36.65 points, to 3,187.99, while the Shenzhen Composite Index on China’s second exchange added 1.29 per cent, or 25.95 points, to 2,044.64. The big gains were in line with a rally across world markets as investors welcomed Powell’s comments that the US central bank would not lift borrowing costs by the bumper 75 basis points seen in the past four policy meetings. The advance extended a rally in Hong Kong and Shanghai that had already been propelled by hopes that China would begin to ease some of its strict Covid containment measures after widespread protests over the strategy, which has cost jobs and hit the economy hard. AFP
GET BT IN YOUR INBOX DAILY
Start and end each day with the latest news stories and analyses delivered straight to your inbox.
KEYWORDS IN THIS ARTICLE
BT is now on Telegram!
For daily updates on weekdays and specially selected content for the weekend. Subscribe to t.me/BizTimes
Companies & Markets
Middle East violence heightens market fears of rate hikes, inflation
Tokyo's Nikkei drops more than 1,000 points, most in 3 years
Cordlife calls for trading halt after shares sink to all-time low, pending announcement
Gazelle Ventures makes cash offer for No Signboard shares at S$0.0021 apiece
Inside TSMC chairman Mark Liu's short but impactful reign
CSE Global bags US$36.5 million data centre contract extension