Hang Seng Index ended just above the flat line on Friday to finally put an end to its two day losing streak despite downfall in oil prices as investors turned their focus on the annual parliamentary meeting and the highly anticipated rate hike in the US this week.
Sluggish No More
Hang Seng Index was finally able to pulled out itself from the bearish territory as it bounced last week with a 0.3% to return back above the flat line at 23, 568.67, shrugging off declines in major oil prices.
Hong Kong’s main benchmark underperformed in Wednesday and Thursday sessions as its stocks were dragged down by energy giants due to rising crude inventories in US.
But it managed to finish the week on a high note as investors kept their eyes on the upcoming policy meetings in US and China this week.
The Chinese government started its annual parliamentary meeting on Sunday where the main focus was the National people’s Congress, the country’s legislature passing the economic and investment policies where two-thirds of members comprised of ruling Communist Party.
An analyst at SWS Research said that the meeting has yet to exceed market expectations, pushing investors opted to leave the market, which caused more selling pressure.
Meanwhile, in US, markets have bet 100% probability on the chance of an interest rate hike, with a lift of 0.25 percentage points, in the policy meeting of the Federal Reserve in March 14-15.