Hong Kong Stocks Set for Strong Weekly Gains
Hong Kong stocks rose 38 points, or 0.2%, to 19,557 around midday on Friday, rising for a fourth day as traders reacted to fresh data from the mainland. China’s annualized GDP grew 5.4% in the fourth quarter, marking the strongest gain in 18 months after a series of supportive measures from Beijing since September. That brought the full-year increase to 5.0%, in line with the official target of around 5%. Meanwhile, industrial output and retail sales rose in December but the unemployment rate hit a three-month peak.
Separately, U.S. stock futures rose slightly after a weak session on Wall Street overnight amid a mixed bag of earnings reports. In other news, Donald Trump will be formally sworn in as the new U.S. president on Monday and he will deliver his inauguration speech. Semicon Manufacturing jumped 10.6% after Taiwan’s TSMC posted record net profit in the fourth quarter. Other companies that gained were Kingsoft Corp. (4.3%), and Zhaojin Mining Inds. (3.0%). The Hang Seng is expected to rise for the first week in three, having risen about 2.5% so far this year.(ayu)
Source: Trading Economics