Stocks in Hong Kong rose 153 points, or 0.6%, to 26,785 in Friday’s morning session, extending gains for a third day after Wall Street extended gains overnight. Sentiment was buoyed by U.S. President Trump’s announcement of a framework agreement with NATO on a future Greenland deal and data highlighting U.S. economic strength. Weekly, the Hang Seng is set for a second consecutive weekly rise, though modest at around 0.3%, lifted by China’s central bank pledge to keep a moderately loose monetary policy this year with tools such as reserve requirement cuts and rate reductions to ensure liquidity. Traders shrugged off local data showing inflation at a six-month high of 1.4% in December, with core inflation edging up to 1.2%. Gains were broad-based across consumer, tech, and financials, with notable movers including Pop Mart Intl. (6.5%), Zijin Gold Intl. (4.0%), and Xiaomi Corp. (2.4%). Investors now await Q1 business sentiment data later today and December trade figures next week.
