Chinese Tech Stocks Demonstrated Their Strength

Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index rose on Monday. It led gains among the major Asia-Pacific markets on the first day of the week as Chinese tech stocks in Hong Kong jumped.

In afternoon trade, the index advanced 1.87% as shares of Tencent rose 2.64%. Other Chinese tech stocks also achieved good results. Alibaba jumped 3.74% while NetEase gained 6.34%.

Markets in mainland China are closed on Monday, as well as Tuesday, this week for holidays.

Investors monitor various factors on a regular basis. Interestingly, investor sentiment may have been buoyed by a recent signal by Chinese officials of progress toward resolving an audit dispute that threatened U.S.-listed Chinese companies with delisting. 

In the meantime, Hong Kong’s chief executive Carrie Lam made an important announcement. The city’s chief executive will not be pursuing a second term in office, Carrie Lam said during a press conference on Monday. Carrie Lam said her decision is “entirely based on” her family considerations. 

Japanese stocks on Monday

Japanese stocks rose on Monday. The Nikkei 225 gained 0.25% to end its trading day at 27,736.47. The Topix index advanced 0.48% to close at 1,953.63.

In South Korea, the Kospi added 0.66% on the day to 2,757.90. Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 gained 0.27% to 7,513.70.

In Sri Lanka, the S&P SL20 index dropped 1.48% to 2,788.97. The index declined as Sri Lanka continues to see economic and political turmoil. 

U.S. stocks were modestly higher on the first day of the month as investors assessed a new quarter of trading and a troublesome bond market recession indicator.

The S&P 500 gained 0.34% to 4,545.86. The Nasdaq Composite advanced 0.29% to 14,261.50. The Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 139.22 points, or 0.40%, to close at 34,818.27. 

The gains for stocks came on the first trading day of the month and the second quarter of the year. 

Bank stocks fell on Friday. For example, Citigroup declined 2%. Chip Stocks declined once again, with Intel dropping nearly 3% and Advanced Micro Devices losing about 1%.