The Hong Kong stock market rebounded on Monday, one session after snapping the two-day winning streak in which it had advanced almost 140 points or 0.9 percent. The Hang Seng Index now sits just above the 16,510-point plateau and it's tipped to see additional support on Tuesday.
The global forecast for the Asian markets is upbeat on bargain hunting, especially among the technology tocks that were battered last week. The European and U.S. markets were up and the Asian bourses are expected to follow suit.
The Hang Seng finished sharply higher on Monday following gains from the technology stocks and properties.
For the day, the index spiked 287.55 points or 1.77 percent to finish at 16,511.69 after trading between 16,410.83 and 16,637.82.
Among the actives, Alibaba Group jumped 2.62 percent, while Alibaba Health Info advanced 1.92 percent, ANTA Sports climbed 2.15 percent, China Life Insurance soared 4.22 percent, China Mengniu Dairy increased 2.24 percent, China Resources Land gained 1.70 percent, CITIC strengthened 2.60 percent, CNOOC plummeted 2.47 percent, Country Garden was up 0.45 percent, CSPC Pharmaceutical spiked 3.99 percent, Galaxy Entertainment rallied 2.67 percent, Hang Lung Properties added 1.83 percent, Henderson Land and CLP Holdings both improved 2.26 percent, Hong Kong & China Gas perked 1.24 percent, Industrial and Commercial Bank of China fell 0.24 percent, JD.com accelerated 3.29 percent, Lenovo dropped 0.98 percent, Li Ning surged 4.54 percent, Meituan skyrocketed 5.56 percent, New World Development rose 1.34 percent, Techtronic Industries gathered 1.28 percent, Xiaomi Corporation collected 0.13 percent and WuXi Biologics picked up 1.43 percent.
The lead from Wall Street is positive as the major averages opened higher on Monday and remained well in the green throughout the trading day.
The Dow rallied 253.58 points or 0.67 percent to finish at 38,239.98, while the NASDAQ jumped 169.30 points or 1.11 percent to close at 15,451.31 and the S&P 500 gained 43.37 points or 0.87 percent to end at 5,010.60.
The strength that emerged on Wall Street came on easing fears of a wider Middle East conflict after Iran and Israel completed 'measured' counterattacks that were calibrated to avoid any casualties.
Investors scooped up bargains ahead of the release of a slew of U.S. economic data including reports on new home sales, durable goods orders and personal income and spending.
Earnings season also starts to pick up steam this week, with Tesla (TSLA), Boeing (BA), IBM (IBM), Caterpillar (CAT), Honeywell (HON), Alphabet (GOOGL), Intel (INTC), Microsoft (MSFT), Chevron (CVX) and Exxon Mobil (XOM) among the companies due to report their quarterly results.
Oil prices drifted lower on Monday on concerns about the outlook for global oil demand, while recent data showing a sharp jump in U.S. crude inventories also weighed on oil prices. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for May fell $0.29 or 0.34 percent at $82.85 a barrel.
Closer to home, Hong Kong will release March figures for consumer prices later today; in February, overall inflation was up 0.4 percent on month and 2.1 percent on year.
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