Hong Kong equities surged 648 points, or 2.4%, to 27,056 in the Monday morning session, rebounding from the prior day’s weakness amid widespread sector gains. Sentiment strengthened as mainland markets are set to reopen Tuesday after a week-long break. Meanwhile, a Financial Times report said Trump’s new 15% global tariff could benefit countries he has heavily criticized, including China and Brazil. Separately, U.S. Trade Representative Greer noted the measures would not affect Trump’s planned meeting with Chinese leader Xi Jinping. However, a plunge in U.S. futures capped gains after Wall Street ended higher Friday, led by consumer stocks. Locally, Hong Kong’s jobless rate rose to 3.9% in the three months to January, the highest since September 2022. Caution also grew ahead of key data this week, including Hong Kong’s Q4 final GDP, January inflation, and trade data. Early gainers included Meituan (3.5%), Zijin Gold Intl. (3.4%), SMIC (2.9%), Tencent (2.2%), and Xiaomi Corp. (1.8%).
