The Hong Kong stock market has jumped higher in seven straight sessions, surging more than 1,400 points or 4.7 percent along the way. The Hang Seng Index now rests just beneath the 30,000-point plateau and it's tipped to open in the green again on Thursday.
The global forecast for the Asian markets is upbeat on optimism over U.S.-China trade talks. The European and U.S. markets were firmly higher and the Asian bourses are tipped to open in similar fashion.
The Hang Seng finished sharply higher again on Wednesday following gains from the financials, casinos and insurance companies, while the oil companies and properties were mixed.
For the day, the index spiked 361.72 points or 1.22 percent to finish at 29,986.39 after trading between 29,715.77 and 29,999.34.
Among the actives, AAC Technologies surged 3.42 percent, while Tencent Holdings soared 3.28 percent, Galaxy Entertainment spiked 3.05 percent, Ping An Insurance accelerated 2.59 percent, China Mobile jumped 2.17 percent, China Life Insurance climbed 1.63 percent, CSPC Pharmaceutical gathered 1.47 percent, Sino Land tumbled 1.45 percent, AIA Group perked 1.06 percent, WH Group advanced 0.81 percent, China Mengniu Dairy added 0.70 percent, Industrial and Commercial Bank of China collected 0.68 percent, Hong Kong &China Gas gained 0.63 percent, CNOOC skidded 0.41 percent, CITIC rose 0.33 percent, China Petroleum and Chemical (Sinopec) was up 0.32 percent and New World Development climbed 0.29 percent.
The lead from Wall Street is positive as stocks opened higher Wednesday, faded a bit in the afternoon but still ended firmly in the green.
The Dow added 39.00 points or 0.15 percent to 26,218.13, while the NASDAQ gained 46.86 points or 0.60 percent to 7,895.55 and the S&P 500 rose 6.16 points or 0.21 percent to 2,873.40.
The higher close on Wall Street came on optimism about the latest round of trade talks between U.S. and Chinese trade representatives. Reports suggest that most of the issues standing in the way of a deal have been resolved.
Buying interest was subdued, however, as traders digested a report from payroll processor ADP showing weaker than expected private sector job growth in March. The Labor Department is set to release its more closely watched monthly employment report on Friday.
Crude oil futures snapped a three-day winning streak Wednesday after data showed an unexpected jump in U.S. crude inventories. West Texas Intermediate Crude futures for May ended down $0.12 or 0.2 percent at $62.46 a barrel, after rising to a fresh five-month high of $62.98 a barrel.
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