Investment 20/12/2023

Hong Kong stocks opened 77 points lower and then fluctuated in a narrow range. The Hang Seng Index fell 221 points in the early stage and found support as low as 16,408 points. The decline once narrowed to 51 points; it closed at 16,505 points, down 124 points or 0.75%, with a full-day volatility of 171 point. The technology index closed at 3,707 points, down 22 points or 0.61%. The main board turnover was HK$76.5 billion. 

The market is looking forward to the U.S. Federal Reserve cutting interest rates next year. U.S. stocks continued to be strong. The Dow Jones Industrial Average hit a new closing high the next night. However, due to the pessimistic view of foreign investors on Hong Kong stocks and poor market sentiment, and lack of confidence in entering the market, the Hang Seng Index has encountered significant resistance at 17,000, and the support of 16,000 points has still to be tested. It seems that there will be no further upward breakthrough in the short term, and it is still fluctuating between 16,000 and 17,000 points. There have been less than two weeks of trading this year, and it is difficult for Hong Kong stocks to see major changes. Unless there is explosive news that reverses the market's pessimistic expectations, relevant news is harder to come out, which in turn makes investors tend to wait and see and be conservative. 

The Bank of Japan hinted that there is little chance of raising interest rates next month, and the yen fell as much as 1.53% to 144.96 per dollar in response. Canada's inflation rate in November remained at 3.1% year-on-year, higher than the expected 2.9%. The Canadian dollar once rose 0.5% to 75 cents, the highest since August. 

European stock markets remained stable, with British, French and German stocks rising 0.31%, 0.08% and 0.56% respectively. 

The market continues to expect the Federal Reserve to cut interest rates early, causing bond interest rates to fall. After the Dow Jones opened slightly higher by 5 points on Tuesday, its gains quickly expanded. It rose by as much as 256 points near the close, reaching a high of 37,562 points. It was the ninth consecutive trading day of gains. It also recorded a record closing high for five consecutive days; the S&P 500 and the Nasdaq also continued their upward trend, with the S&P 500 approaching its historical closing high and the Nasdaq Index returning to the 15,000-point mark. 

The three major U.S. stock indexes all closed close to the day's highs: the Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 251 points, or 0.68%, to 37,557 points; the S&P Index rose 27 points, or 0.59%, to 4,768 points; the Nasdaq, which is dominated by technology stocks, rose 98 points, or 0.66 points. %, reporting at 15,003 points, reaching 15,000 points for the first time since January last year.