HSI Gives Up Early Momentum, Asian Stocks Rally

Hong Kong stocks finished Thursday's morning session flat, having struggled to hold on to an early rally that followed Wall Street's bounce from a three-day sell-off.

The Hang Seng Index inched up just under ten points, to 24,478.

On the mainland, the Shanghai Composite Index gained 0.3 percent, to 3,264 while the Shenzhen Composite Index rose 0.6 percent, to 2,162.

Tokyo, Singapore, Sydney and Taipei rose around 0.5 percent while Seoul and Wellington added 0.8 percent. But Jakarta plunged 4 percent after authorities reimposed containment measures in the capital to battle a resurgence of the coronavirus.

"The rebound rally might suggest that investors remain confident about the economic prospects where a virus vaccine still provides a pillar of support, albeit with some dents in the armour," said Stephen Innes at AxiCorp.

"But ultimately, they remain codified around the Federal Reserve boards' redoubtable policy support," he added, referring to the US central bank's multi-trillion-dollar financial backstop.

However, he did warn that virus concerns continue to play in the background as governments try to balance rebooting their economies against fuelling fresh waves of the disease, particularly with the northern hemisphere winter approaching. (AFP)

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