Investment 22/1/2024

Hong Kong stocks rose above 15,500 points in the early morning and were unable to go higher. Selling pressure reappeared in the afternoon on the Hang Seng Index, which fell as much as 183 points and as low as 15,207 points. It closed at 15,308 points, down 83 points or 0.54%. The technology index closed at 3,129 points, down 46 points or 1.45%. The main board's total daily turnover was HK$96.8 billion. 

The Hang Seng Index hit another 14-month low last week, falling 935 points or 5.75% for the whole week; the HS Tech index fell 340 points or 9.8%. 

Hong Kong stocks have continued to be weak in recent days. Although the Hang Seng Index has stabilized after a sharp decline, the resistance above 15,900 to 16,000 points is not light, and there is not much room for rebound. After the break, there is still a chance to continue to find the bottom. In fact, the mainland is facing shrinking demographic dividend, high debt, and deepening concerns about deflation. The People's Bank of China has not cut interest rates as expected earlier. In addition, as the Lunar New Year is approaching and monetary conditions are tight, the market sentiment in China and Hong Kong is still weak. The valuation of the Hang Seng Index is not attractive either. The market outlook is bound to fall below the psychological threshold of the pre-return level (15,196). In the medium and long term, there is a greater chance of testing the low of 14,597 points in October 2022. 

European stock markets rose first and then recovered. UK retail sales data in December was disappointing. The pan-European STOXX 600 index fell 0.26%. British stocks edged up 0.04%. French and German stock markets fell 0.4% and 0.07% respectively. 

The likelihood of a U.S. recession has dropped sharply, according to the latest Wall Street Journal survey of economists. But even though the economy is growing, it still feels like a recession to many, and one reason is that performance varies widely across industries. U.S. consumer confidence in January far exceeded expectations. U.S. stocks continued to perform well on Friday. After opening 103 points higher, the Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 16 points at one point. It then resumed its upward trend and soared 465 points to a high of 37,933 points; the S&P It once rose to 4,842 points, surpassing the historical high in January 2022, with an increase of 1.28%, and closing at a record high; the Nasdaq closed at its highest level throughout the day. 

At the close of U.S. stocks, the Dow rose 395 points, or 1.05%, to 37,863 points; the S&P 500 rose 58 points, or 1.23%, to 4,839 points; the Nasdaq rose 255 points, or 1.7%, to 15,310 points.

 The US dollar index fell up to 0.27% to 103.26. The yen once rose 0.22%, reaching a high of 147.84 per dollar. The euro rose 0.2% to a high of $1.0899, but has fallen 0.6% against the dollar this week. The pound fell as much as 0.36% to $1.2661.