Hong Kong stocks started the first full week of 2026 trading on a flat note on Monday, as the benchmark gauge hovered around a seven-week high.
The Hang Seng Index gained 0.03%, trading near the highest close since November 17. While the Hang Seng Tech Index rose 0.09%.
In terms of star stocks, Kuaishou rose 11%; Bilibili rose 5%; Alibaba rose 3%; SMIC and Pop Mart rose 2%; Tencent rose 0.2%; JD.com and Mixue Group fell 1%; Xiaomi fell 2%; Li Auto, NetEase, and BYD fell 3%; XPeng fell 5%; NIO fell 6%.
The MSCI Asia-Pacific Index rose to an all-time high on Monday on extended optimism that the artificial intelligence trade will continue to power stocks ahead in the new year, defying geopolitical risks following the US assault on Venezuela over the weekend. Spot gold prices rose by as much as 2.1 per cent to US$4,420.99 an ounce, approaching a record high of US$4,533.21 set in December. Crude oil contracts barely budged to trade at US$57.19 a barrel on expectations that it would take years to restore the oil capacity of Venezuela, which has the world’s biggest crude reserve.
Goldman Sachs said in a note over the weekend that China’s economy would expand by 4.8 per cent in 2026, against a consensus forecast of a 4.5 per cent increase. China would cut the interest rate by 10 basis points and expand the fiscal deficit by 1.2 percentage points this year, while the decline in producer prices would narrow to 0.7 per cent from 2.6 per cent in 2025, it said.

