Investment 2/2/2024

After a brutal January, Hong Kong stocks stabilized for the first time in February. The Hang Seng Index once rose 320 points, reaching a high of 15,805 points before retreating, closing at 15,566 points, up 81 points or 0.52%. The technology index closed at 3,065 points, up 60 points or 2%. The main board's total daily turnover was HK$94.9 billion. 

The U.S. Federal Reserve kept interest rates unchanged, and Chairman Powell said there was little chance of a rate cut in March. As the performance of most companies slowed down significantly in the third and fourth quarters of last year, investors are more cautious about this year's profit prospects. In addition, the market's main focus is on mainland policy news, and the interest rate environment has little impact on Hong Kong stocks. It is expected that the Hong Kong stock market will continue to rebound today, but there will not be any big breakthrough in the short term. It is hoped that it can return to the 10-DMA (15,652). Only if there is more good news in the market outlook can it return to the 16,000 level. 

Following the US Federal Reserve, the Bank of England also stayed on hold after discussing interest rates. European stock markets were under pressure, with British, French and German stock markets closing down 0.11%, 0.89% and 0.26% respectively.

 After the Federal Reserve indicated that it is unlikely to cut interest rates in March, dragging down U.S. stocks to close lower on Wednesday, investors actively entered the market on Thursday before large technology stocks announced their results, driving the three major U.S. stock indexes to rebound sharply. After the Dow opened slightly higher by 25 points, it opened early in the morning. The performance was inconsistent during the period, and then the lows increased. It rose by up to 372 points near the close and reached a high of 38,522 points. The S&P 500 index once rose by 1.27%, and the Nasdaq Composite Index, which is dominated by technology stocks, once rose by 1.37%. 

At the close of the U.S. market, the Dow continued to rise by 369 points, or 0.97%, to 38,519 points; the S&P 500 rose 60 points, or 1.25%, to 4,906 points; the Nasdaq rose 197 points, or 1.3%, to 15,361 points. 

The U.S. dollar index rose as much as 0.52% to 103.811; the yen rose 0.69% to a high of 145.9 per dollar. The Bank of England hinted that it would consider lowering interest rates once inflation slows down. The pound fell as much as 0.5% in the market, and then rebounded 0.54% to US$1.2757. Inflation in the Euro zone was higher than market expectations, and the Euro exchange rate once rose 0.53%, reaching a high of 1.0877. Dollar.