HSI Slips As Markets Await Key US Job Data

Hng Kong shares slipped on Wednesday with most other Asian markets as investors awaited the release of key US jobs data later in the week.

The Hang Seng Index eased 0.3 percent, to 25,120.

On the mainland, the Shanghai Composite Index dipped 0.2 percent, to 3,404 though the Shenzhen Composite Index added 0.5 percent, to 2,321.

Tokyo, Seoul, Wellington and Bangkok were all higher but there were losses in Singapore, Mumbai, Manila and Jakarta.

Traders were also keeping an eye on Washington after Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said he would reach out to the Democrats to work on pushing through a new stimulus package for the beleaguered US economy.

"The big theme right now is the unrelenting, record-breaking rally in tech stocks," Candice Bangsund, at Fiera Capital Corp, said as the Nasdaq notched up a third straight record having rocketed a mind-boggling 80 percent from its March trough.

However, she added: "The landscape for stocks is great but there’s still, from a macro perspective, a lot of unknowns as to the progression of the virus and, of course, the implications for global growth." (AFP)