Hong Kong stocks rebounded from a three-week low in a late rally on Wednesday, as traders weighed the prospects of monetary easing after a mixed reading on the US payroll report.
The Hang Seng Index rose 0.9 per cent to 25,468.78 at the close after swinging between gains and losses during most of the day's trading. The Hang Seng Tech Index gained 1 per cent.
On the mainland, the CSI 300 Index climbed 1.8 per cent and the Shanghai Composite Index added 1.2 per cent.
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China Life Insurance jumped 4.3 per cent to HK$28.56 and Chinese sportswear maker Li Ning also rallied 4.3 per cent to HK$19.07. Pop Mart International Group added 3.4 per cent to HK$195.70. On the downside, ENN Energy slid 2.4 per cent to HK$69.90 and Hong Kong machine tool maker Techtronic Industries retreated 2 per cent to HK$89.80.
While the November data showed that the US jobs market was softening, the deterioration was not alarming enough to prompt the US Federal Reserve to cut the interest rate in the near term, analysts said. The probability of a quarter-point cut next month now stood at 25.5 per cent, according to CME Group. That would test the resilience of US and global stocks, which traded near record highs amid stretched valuations.
"The US jobs market is cooling and on track for a soft landing," said Zhang Di, an analyst at China Galaxy Securities in Beijing. "But we think that there's limited urgency for the Fed to deliver a rate reduction in January and that the Fed may wait for one or two months to re-evaluate the window for the rate cut after access to data that is less distorted."
The US jobs market is on track for a soft landing, some analysts say. Photo: EPA alt=The US jobs market is on track for a soft landing, some analysts say. Photo: EPA>
The US added 64,000 jobs in November, improving from a loss of 105,000 positions in the previous month amid a contraction in government employment. Still, the unemployment rate rose to 4.56 per cent last month, compared with 4.44 per cent in September.
Investors will turn to the November US inflation data due later Thursday for fresh clues on monetary policy direction. Core consumer prices probably rose 2.9 per cent from a year earlier last month, decelerating from a 3.02 per cent increase in September, according to Goldman Sachs. The investment bank predicted cooling inflation in 2026 because of a weaker labour market and the waning effect of the tariffs.
Two companies started trading. HashKey Holdings, Hong Kong's largest licensed cryptocurrency exchange, dropped 0.2 per cent to HK$6.67 in Hong Kong. MetaX Integrated Circuits , the Chinese graphics processing unit maker, surged 693 per cent to 829.90 yuan in Shanghai, underscoring the euphoric trade on China's technological self-reliance drive.
The tech independence and the anti-involution campaign of cutting obsolete capacities at some of the green industries were the two key investment themes that would have a pronounced impact on Chinese stocks, according to global index compiler FTSE Russell.
Chinese equities were expected to outperform among Asian markets next year, standing to benefit from enhanced corporate governance and targeted policy support for technology and innovation, according to Standard Chartered. The UK bank maintained an overweight rating on Chinese stocks, forecasting that the Hang Seng Index would trade between 28,000 and 30,000 over a 12-month period.
Other major Asian markets were mixed. Japan's Nikkei 225 added 0.3 per cent and South Korea's Kospi rose 1.4 per cent, while Australia's S&P/ASX 200 lost 0.2 per cent.
This article originally appeared in the South China Morning Post (SCMP) , the most authoritative voice reporting on China and Asia for more than a century. For more SCMP stories, please explore the SCMP app or visit the SCMP's Facebook and Twitter pages. Copyright © 2025 South China Morning Post Publishers Ltd. All rights reserved.
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