Hong Kong Leads Global Markets Higher
June 01 2020 - 1:11AM
Dow Jones News
By Xie Yu
Hong Kong's benchmark stock index led international markets
higher, signaling investors' relief that President Trump has
refrained so far from definitive steps targeting the city or
mainland China.
In Monday morning trading in Hong Kong, the city's Hang Seng
Index surged 3.2%. Stock gauges in Shanghai, South Korea and Japan
rose 1.1% to 2.0%. Australia's S&P/ASX 200 added 0.8%.
E-mini S&P 500 futures retreated 0.1%
Market moves indicated a Friday statement by Mr. Trump on Hong
Kong wasn't perceived as overly negative, likely because it didn't
contain concrete measures on the phase-one China-U.S. trade deal or
on Hong Kong sanctions, said Martin Hennecke, Asia investment
director with St. James's Place Wealth Management.
President Trump on Friday said the decision to stop treating
Hong Kong as semiautonomous from Beijing would affect issues such
as extradition arrangements, trade in certain high-technology
products, and advice to U.S. travelers, but he stopped short of
announcing specific actions.
Mr. Hennecke said Hong Kong was to some extent benefiting from
U.S.-China tensions, which had helped create strong demand for
secondary listings from Chinese companies that are already listed
in the U.S.
Indexes in mainland China rose, even after weekend data
suggested recent factory activity was weaker than expected.
The official manufacturing purchasing managers index eased to
50.6 in May from 50.8 in April. That was still above the 50-point
mark that separates expansion from contraction, but undershot the
51.5 consensus forecast of economists polled by The Wall Street
Journal.
The Chinese yuan was little changed in both onshore and offshore
markets, trading at 7.1324 a dollar in Hong Kong. The offshore yuan
briefly weakened beyond 7.19 last week--nearing record lows--before
regaining some ground.
Last week, Chinese authorities signaled their tolerance for a
weaker currency by setting daily reference points for onshore
trading of the yuan against the dollar at levels last seen in 2008.
On Monday, the People's Bank of China set the midprice for the
onshore yuan at 7.1315, little changed from Friday's fixing at
7.1316.
Monday's start-of-month rallies helped some markets in the
Asia-Pacific region build on their robust recent performance, as
they reversed some of the first quarter's steep losses.
Over April and May, Japan's Nikkei 225, South Korea's Kospi
Composite and Australia's S&P/ASX 200 enjoyed their best
two-month percentage gains since 1995, 2009 and 1994, respectively,
according to Dow Jones Market Data. The Hang Seng has lagged behind
recently, however, falling 6.8% in May.
Likewise, the S&P 500 edged up Friday to close out its best
two-month performance since 2009, as investors were encouraged by
states and businesses around the U.S. reopening.
The yield on the 10-year U.S. Treasury note ticked down to
0.641% from 0.650%. Bond yields fall as prices rise.
Brent crude, the global oil benchmark, fell 0.5% to $37.66.
Write to Xie Yu at Yu.Xie@wsj.com
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
June 01, 2020 00:56 ET (04:56 GMT)
Copyright (c) 2020 Dow Jones & Company, Inc.