KGI Asia Commentary
HSI rose 156 points on Tuesday
The Hang Seng Index rose 156 points or 0.9% to 16,790 on Tuesday. HSTECH rose 109 points or 3.2% to 3,503 and HSCEI rose 83 points or 1.5% to 5,806. Daily market turnover was HK$102.6bn.
S&P and Nasdaq close higher on Tuesday
The S&P and Nasdaq ended slightly higher on Tuesday as investors braced for key inflation data due later this week. The S&P 500 index edged up 0.17% to 5,078.18 points. The Nasdaq rose 0.37% to close at 16,035.30 points. The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 96.82 points, or 0.25%, to close at 38,972.41 points. Retail giant Macy's shares rose 3.4% after the company announced it would close about 150 struggling stores and reported lower-than-expected revenue in the last quarter. Lowe's Co. reported earnings that beat estimates, sending shares up 1.7%. Zoom shares rose 8% after the company reported stronger-than-expected earnings and announced it would repurchase $1.5 billion in stock. Video game software maker Unity Software Inc.'s shares fell 6% after the company announced lower-than-expected performance guidance and unveiled a turnaround plan that includes exiting some businesses. Workday shares fell 4%. The company kept its subscription sales guidance unchanged. Although revenue exceeded expectations, the market believes that operating profit margin growth is expected to slow down in 2025 as net operating expenses are expected to increase significantly to support continued growth.
U.S. consumer confidence falls for first time in four months
Data released in the United States on Tuesday showed that the consumer confidence index unexpectedly fell to 106.7 in February from 110.9 in January, hitting a three-month low. The impact of inflation continues to put pressure on consumers. In addition, durable goods orders fell 6.1% in January, worse than the downwardly revised expectations of a 0.3% decline and a 5% decline in December. However, Federal Reserve Governor Michelle Bowman reiterated her expectation that inflation will continue to fall further if interest rates remain at current levels, but said it was too early to start cutting rates.
Hong Kong Stock Connect had a net inflow of HK1.32bn on Tuesday, of which CNOOC (883) had the largest net inflow, reaching HK$0.56bn; followed by SMIC (981). Tencent (700) recorded the largest net outflow at HK$0.84bn, followed by Meituan (3690).
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