The Hong Kong Stock Exchange in Hong Kong, China, on Wednesday, July 13, 2022.
Paul Yeung | Bloomberg | Getty Images
Hong Kong stocks briefly rose 7% on Friday, with cyclical technology and consumer stocks leading the rise amid China reopening rumors and a report that inspections of -United States audits of Chinese companies were completed faster than expected.
In the last hour of trading, the Hang Seng Index increased by 6.06%, while the Hang Seng Tech index increased by 7.92%. Stocks in the city were reacting to speculation about China’s potential reopening as zero-Covid policies persist, dragging down the economy.
In mainland China, the Shanghai Composite Index closed up 2.43% at 3,070.80 and the Shenzhen Component gained 3.20% to 11,187.43
Stefanie Holtze-Jen, APAC CIO at Deutsche Bank, said China’s reopening is still an uncertainty, but it is “exciting to see these rumors coming.”
“The market seems to think if there’s smoke, there must be fire,” she said, adding that she was watching for announcements about the upcoming Shanghai marathon and articles in the Chinese Communist Party newspaper, People’s Daily, for changes in tonality.
She also told CNBC’s “Capital Connection” that she is paying close attention to economic meetings in December.
Other markets in Asia Pacific continued to process the Fed’s 75 basis point interest rate hike and looked ahead to the jobs report.
of Japan Nikkei 225’s ended 1.68% lower at 27,199.74 after a holiday on Thursday. The Topix fell 1.29%, closing at 1,915.40. In South Korea, the Cops added 0.83% to 2,348.43. MSCI’s broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan was 2.53% higher.
of Australia S&P/ASX 200 it closed 0.5% higher at 6,892.50. The Reserve Bank of Australia released its monetary policy statement on Friday.
Asia-Pacific currencies strengthened as the US dollar index she slipped
The monthly US jobs report is scheduled to be released later. Economists expect 205,000 jobs were added in October, and forecast the unemployment rate to remain at 3.5%, according to Dow Jones.
Overnight, US stocks fell for the fourth consecutive session. The Dow Jones Industrial Average dropped 146.51 points, or 0.46%, to close at 32,001.25. The LS&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.
