The Hong Kong stock market has finished higher in six straight sessions, accelerating almost 1,200 points or 4.3 percent along the way. The Hang Seng Index now rests just beneath the 27,850-point plateau and it's expected to open in the green again on Friday.
The global forecast for the Asian markets is upbeat on growing optimism for a trade deal between the United States and China. The European and U.S. markets were up and the Asian bourses are tipped to open in similar fashion.
The Hang Seng finished modestly higher on Thursday following gains from the financial shares and property stocks.
For the day, the index jumped 158.59 points or 0.57 percent to finish at 27,847.23 after trading between 27,534.91 and 27,900.80.
Among the actives, CSPC Pharmaceutical surged 4.39 percent, while Hang Seng Bank soared 1.97 percent, Industrial and Commercial Bank of China collected 1.38 percent, AAC Technologies tumbled 1.33 percent, China Mengniu Dairy spiked 1.31 percent, CITIC accelerated 1.15 percent, Sands China jumped 1.12 percent, Hang Lung Properties climbed 0.93 percent, BOC Hong Kong gathered 0.89 percent, New World Development perked 0.86 percent, WH Group advanced 0.81 percent, AIA Group added 0.66 percent, China Resources Land gained 0.57 percent, CNOOC and Ping An Insurance both rose 0.48 percent, China Mobile increased 0.23 percent, China Petroleum and Chemical (Sinopec) lost 0.21 percent, Tencent Holdings fell 0.12 percent and Galaxy Entertainment and China Life Insurance were unchanged.
The lead from Wall Street is positive as stocks opened higher on Thursday, faded a bit as the day progressed but still finished firmly in the green.
The Dow added 182.24 points or 0.66 percent to 27,674.80, while the NASDAQ gained 23.89 points or 0.28 percent and the S&P 500 rose 8.40 points or 0.27 percent to 3,085.18.
The early strength on Wall Street followed signs of progress in U.S.-China trade talks after a spokesman for the Chinese Commerce Ministry said the U.S. and China have agreed to lift existing tariffs in phases.
In U.S. economic news, the Labor Department reported a bigger than expected decrease in first-time claims for U.S. unemployment benefits in the week ended November 2.
Crude oil prices moved higher on Thursday, rebounding smartly after suffering a setback in the previous session. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for December ended up $0.80 or 1.4 percent at $57.15 a barrel.
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