Investment 8/1/2024

Hong Kong stocks were struggling. The Hang Seng Index fell nearly 200 points in the early morning. However, it fell below 16,500 points and found support. It once rose by 100 points. Selling pressure reappeared in the afternoon and closed at 16,535 points, down 110 points or 0.66%. January started with consecutive fell for 4 days. The technology index closed at 3,592 points, down 62 points or 1.71%. The main board transaction volume was HK$81.8 billion, and the net buying volume of the Hong Kong Stock Connect was HK$1.606 billion. 

There were only 4 trading days last week, and the Hang Seng Index fell by 512 points, or 3%; the technology index fell by 172 points, or 4.5%.

The Hang Seng Index rebounded to 22,700 points in January last year and peaked. It fell to 15,972 points last month and was close to the bottom of the downward channel before rebounding. However, it has been restricted to 17,000 points in the past two weeks. The declining 100-DMA (17,508) is an important short-term resistance. If it can A break above is expected to test the top of the channel, which is the area between 18,000 and 18,200 points. On the contrary, if bullishness continues, the Hang Seng Index is expected to fluctuate between 16,500 and 17,000 points. If it falls below the previous week's low of 16,439 points, it will continue its wave-lower trend, and the previous low of 15,972 points is expected to be severely tested. The market outlook will depend on whether the mainland's economic conditions improve, or more substantive policies may be needed to support the Hong Kong stock market to break through the sluggish situation.

 European stock markets were soft, with British, French and German stocks closing down 0.43%, 0.4% and 0.14% respectively. 

The U.S. job market performed strongly in December last year. Although it increased the market's confidence in a soft landing for the economy, it also reduced the chance of the Federal Reserve starting to cut interest rates in March. After the U.S. stock index opened slightly higher by 15 points, the increase once expanded to 183 points, reaching its highest level. 37,623 points, and then fell 116 points, reaching a low of 37,323 points throughout the day; the S&P 500 rose 0.7%; the Nasdaq, which is dominated by technology stocks, rebounded up to 0.79%. 

The U.S. stock market closed, and the three major indexes finally stabilized: the Dow rose 25 points or 0.07%, to 37,466 points; the S&P 500 gained 8 points, or 0.18%, to 4,697 points; the Nasdaq gained 13 points, or 0.09%, to 14,524 points. The cumulative decline last week ended the past nine consecutive weeks of gains. The Nasdaq fell 3.3%, the S&P 500 fell 1.5%, and the Dow fell 0.6%. 

The U.S. dollar index rose as much as 0.66% to 103.101, and then remained roughly unchanged; the yen fell for four consecutive days, once falling 0.93% to 145.97 per dollar; the euro fell 0.62% to $1.0877.