Hong Kong, China stocks end higher on tech-fuelled rally
Hong Kong shares rallied to a fresh three-year high on Thursday, led by tech stocks, as investors continued to pile into artificial intelligence shares and welcomed new policy support.
Hong Kong's benchmark Hang Seng Index climbed 3.3% to 24,369.71, the highest since February 2022. The Hang Seng Tech Index rallied 5.4% after briefly touching its firmest since late 2021.
Market heavyweight Alibaba surged 8.4% to its strongest since late 2021, after the release of a new AI model the company said was on par with global hit DeepSeek's R1.
Gains extended in the late afternoon session after a joint press conference hosted by China's top officials from the central bank, market regulators and others who pledged more support for the economy and markets.
The onshore market also climbed on Thursday, with the Shanghai Composite index up 1.2% and the blue-chip CSI300 index gaining 1.4%.
Leading gains onshore, the chip sector subindex surged 4% and the consumer staples sector climbed 1.9%.
Despite the moderate fiscal package announced at the National People's Congress, China's annual parliamentary meeting, the message of focusing on tech innovation and consumption was especially encouraging and should help to sustain the market's momentum, Morgan Stanley strategist Laura Wang said in a note on Thursday.
"We remain positive on offshore equities and expect the latest tariff hike to disrupt but not derail the market's momentum."
Goldman Sachs raised its target price for emerging market stocks on Thursday, projecting that the AI-powered rally in Chinese equities could boost other markets as well.
(Reporting by Jiaxing Li in Hong Kong; Editing by Janane Venkatraman and Jacqueline Wong)
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Arabian Post
11 hours ago
- Arabian Post
OPEC+ Quota Increases Yet to Yield Production Gains
Arabian Post Staff -Dubai OPEC+ has escalated production quotas by roughly one million barrels per day from March to June, aiming to reactivate idled capacity, yet actual output across the group remains flat, according to data from Morgan Stanley analysts led by Martijn Rats. Saudi Arabia in particular shows no detectable uptick, underscoring a lag between policy shifts and market reality. The decision to accelerate quota rollbacks follows sustained cuts totalling around 2.2 million b/d, initiated in early 2023 to support prices. With non‑OPEC supply growing and global demand weakening, the efficacy of supply restraint has waned, prompting OPEC+ to pivot back to restoring output gradually. Despite headline quota increases of approximately 137,000 b/d per month since April, actual deliveries appear limited. ADVERTISEMENT Underlying structural factors are at play. Several members—most notably Kazakhstan and Iraq—have reportedly exceeded their quotas, diluting the announced gains. Saudi Arabia, with substantial spare capacity, stands out as the most capable contributor to any genuine rise in output. However, its contribution remains muted so far. Analysts suggest this reflects a strategic choice to reclaim market share rather than an immediate scale-up. Analysts at Morgan Stanley project modest growth: between June and September, OPEC+ core members may add around 420,000 b/d—approximately half of which could originate from Saudi Arabia. Even then, actual production may fall well short of quotas, with implementation challenges persisting. This gap between policy and output carries market implications. With more supply forecast, Morgan Stanley predicts a surplus of roughly 800,000 b/d in Q4 and 1.5–2.0 million b/d in early 2026, pressuring Brent crude prices down toward the mid‑$50s. Currently, Brent trades near $66 per barrel—11% below its level at the start of the year. In parallel, geopolitical friction between Saudi Arabia and Russia surfaced during policy talks. Riyadh favoured a more aggressive quota rollback, while Moscow, alongside Oman and Algeria, urged caution amid worries about demand resilience. The compromise settled on another 411,000 b/d increase for July, a repetition of earlier monthly hikes. Markets initially responded positively: oil prices climbed 3–4% following the July quota announcement, with Brent touching the mid‑$60s. That rebound, however, reflected relief over continuity rather than enthusiasm over fresh supply. Wildfires in Canada and refinery maintenance cycles were also cited as supporting factors. Across OPEC+, reliability of quotas remains a concern. While some members exceed limits, others—constrained by infrastructure or investment—may struggle to ramp up. Saudi Arabia's spare capacity remains central, but constraints on countries like Russia complicate the outlook even as OPEC+ restores cut volumes faster than planned. Meanwhile, non‑OPEC supply continues to grow, particularly in the U.S., Canada, Guyana and Brazil—with forecast increases of about 1.1 million b/d in 2025. That expansion alone could outpace expected global demand growth of 800,000 b/d, risking oversupply irrespective of OPEC+ decisions. With a full quota restoration now likely by September 2025—months ahead of the original schedule—and non‑OPEC volumes outweighing demand growth, the market faces a mounting supply glut heading into late 2025 and 2026. Analysts caution that idled capacity may remain untouched for months beyond official quotas, delaying meaningful production gains. As OPEC+ enters this intensified phase of quota reopening, its central challenge remains execution rather than announcement. High-profile policy shifts are yet to translate into barrels at market, and the divergence between targets and reality could widen over the coming quarters. Market players are now watching whether Saudi Arabia leads by example or the rhetoric fades before the pumps do.
Arabian Post
4 days ago
- Arabian Post
A sordid tale of the Blackstone IPO and a jailed NRI private bankster!
Matein Khalid I have had a neurological soft corner for Wall Street's alternative asset manager stocks ever since I resisted the come hither importunings of multiple Morgan Stanley (MS) managing directors before the firm sold its private wealth division in the DIFC to Credit Suisse. Everyone of these MS honchos wanted me to subscribe to the Blackstone IPO in the summer of 2007 at $32. They assured me that the biggest institutional investors in the UAE had all subscribed to the IPO and I was even excluded from a dinner with Stephen Schwartzmann, Blacktone's founder and chairman, since I refused to give MS an order for a $50 million IPO bid. By the summer of 2007, I was convinced that the world was headed into a traumatic global recession and even published an article in English which would have saved my fellow Dubai investors billions of dollars had they bothered to read it for free in the Khaleej Times as far back as January 2007. This article accurately predicted the global financial meltdown a year before it happened and is uploaded above. ADVERTISEMENT Naturally, these Morgan Stanley private bankers despite their fancy titles of MD, Imperial Wizards, King of Kings and Chief Concubine were clueless about the nuances of the global capital markets. I have learnt the hard way that the private banking and wealth business in the Middle East is really the blind leading the blind to the slaughterhouse, invariably with high octane leverage and absurdly high fees for the privileges of helping you gut your financial net-worth in the capital markets they barely understand. I sealed my unpopularity with Morgan Stanely's pinstriped bureaucrats in Dubai when I wrote successive articles, listing myriad reasons why I wanted to short both Morgan Stanley and Blackstone at 32. History or a cursory look at your smartphone will record that MS almost failed in the post Lehman Wall Street panic and the Blackstone IPO plunged from 32 to 4. To compound the insult that Dubai's top NRI investors faced as they haemorrhaged money on the advice of the MS clowns, the top Indian broker on the MS bench (Manoj Prasad) was jailed for fraud, money laundering and trying to bribe a CBI officer in India. So much for Wall Street/Swiss due diligence/ethics when it comes time to fleece the leveraged NRI lambs in the Gulf. My readers know I wrote successive columns in the UAE/British media recommending investors buy Blackstone (BX) shares at 10-12 when the distribution yield was 9%. I even recommended in writing to the chairman of the royal investment office where I was CIO not to allocate $25 million to Abraaj Capital for a board seat that meant squat at 3.5X book value when he could invest in Blackstone at $10 a share, way below book value. That $25 million went to money heaven when Abraaj failed in 2018 after Arif Naqvi's criminal fraud. Blackstone shares I recommended rose from $10 in 2010 to as high as $200. So that $25 million in Abraaj's eternal money heaven would be valued at $500 million if my poor chairman who had never heard of Steve Schwarzman but Magu, our Group CFO, a Karachi accountant, was dazzled by the intellectual brilliance of Arif Naqvi, the Gulf media's financier of the millennium. Moral of the story? If you think Wharton is expensive, try ignorance! Blackstone is now the planet's biggest alt asset manager with $1.2 trillion AUM and is valued at $167 billion on the NYSE. I am a nervous long at $136 since I believe the US private credit market will be gutted in a recession that is now inevitable in Q3, the reason why I went long up the wazoo on TLT at 84 as I expect JayPo to capitulate on rate cuts at the September FOMC. I want to exit my BX long via a covered call strategy before July 4th, our Independence Day. I am pretty sure I will be able to buy BX below 100 when the macro wolf finally swallows Grandma Goldilocks. We saw this movie before in the autumn of 2008 ADVERTISEMENT Also published on Medium. Notice an issue? Arabian Post strives to deliver the most accurate and reliable information to its readers. If you believe you have identified an error or inconsistency in this article, please don't hesitate to contact our editorial team at editor[at]thearabianpost[dot]com. We are committed to promptly addressing any concerns and ensuring the highest level of journalistic integrity.
Zawya
30-05-2025
- Zawya
Wall Street fears foreign tax in budget bill may reduce allure of US assets
NEW YORK - Wall Street analysts are cautioning that a tax targeting foreign investors in the U.S. budget bill progressing through Congress could end up weighing on demand for U.S. Treasuries and the dollar. The U.S. House of Representatives last week approved a sweeping tax and spending bill that includes the possibility of imposing a progressive tax burden of up to 20% on foreign investors' passive income, such as dividends and royalties. The levy, included in section 899, would be paid by entities or individuals from countries that impose taxes the U.S. considers unfair. If it is also approved by the Senate, it could raise $116 billion in taxes over ten years, according to the Congressional Budget Office. "We see this legislation as creating the scope for the U.S. administration to transform a trade war into a capital war if it so wishes," George Saravelos, head of FX research at Deutsche Bank, said in a note on Thursday, adding the new tax could have an adverse impact on demand for U.S. Treasuries. If passed by the Senate, the rising tax rate on foreigners' investments would come at a time global investors have started to question so-called "U.S. exceptionalism," or its unique ability to outperform other financial markets, amid growing fiscal deficits and a new trade policy based on tariffs. Morgan Stanley said in a note that the new tax would weaken the dollar, as it would reduce the foreign appetite for U.S. assets. Morgan Stanley's strategist Michael Zezas singled out European investors with passive income in the U.S. as particularly vulnerable to the tax. The bank did not provide any estimate for the impact. According to law firm Davis Polk, nations that could be considered 'discriminatory foreign countries' include many that are part of the European Union, as well as India, Brazil, Australia and United Kingdom. The White House did not immediately comment on the impact of the new tax burden. (Reporting by Carolina Mandl, in New York; additional reporting by Elisa Martinucci, in London, and Lewis Krauskopf, in New York; Editing by Megan Davies and Sonali Paul)
