The U.S. Federal Reserve held its policy rate unchanged on Wednesday, voting 10‑2 to keep the federal‑funds target range at 3.75% to 4.00%. Two members urged a rate hike. In a post‑meeting statement, the Fed upgraded its assessment of the U.S. economy from “steady” to “strong.” Chairman Jerome Powell said that financial conditions had tightened but reiterated that the Fed would not provide forward guidance. He also noted that artificial‑intelligence investments are affected by the current interest‑rate environment. Hong Kong stocks opened lower, with the Hang Seng Index down six points to 23,088. Technology shares moved mixed: Xiaomi (1810) rose 0.3%, JD.com (9618) held steady, Tencent (700) fell 0.4%, Alibaba (9988) fell 0.6%, and Meituan (3690) fell 0.8%. The pharmaceutical sector performed strongly at the open. Bai Ji Shen Zhou (6160) gained 3.7%, the best‑performing blue‑chip; Hansen Pharmaceutical (3692) rose 2%; and Yiming Kangde (2359) increased 1.6%. China National Petroleum Corp. (857) reported first‑quarter earnings of 155.8 billion yuan, up 22% year‑on‑year, with average crude prices rising 19%. The company’s shares rose 0.6% at the open. Shida Bio (1801) posted third‑quarter product revenue of more than 4.7 billion yuan, a year‑over‑year increase of over 40%, and its shares opened at 82.2 yuan, up 1.17%. Net selling of Hong Kong shares yesterday totaled 804 million HKD. Net purchases were recorded for Zhihu (2513) at 555 million HKD, SMIC (981) at 533 million HKD, and CNOOC (883) at 487 million HKD. Net selling was also reported for Bubble Mate (9992) at 655 million HKD, Changfei Optical Fiber (6869) at 288 million HKD, and Jian Tao Laminated Panels (1888) at 145 million HKD. In the United States, the Dow Jones Industrial Average closed at 52,475, up 97 points (0.19%). The S&P 500 finished at 7,743, up 21 points (0.28%). The Nasdaq Composite ended at 26,549, up 72 points (0.27%). Technology earnings dominated U.S. market focus. Microsoft reported that its Azure cloud revenue exceeded expectations, growing 48% year‑over‑year, and said capital expenditures had not “run out of control.” The company forecast second‑quarter revenue of $96.0 billion to $97.1 billion and capital spending above $50 billion. The upbeat guidance lifted Microsoft’s after‑hours share price by 6.97%. Alphabet Inc., the parent of Google, posted third‑quarter results that fell short of expectations. Free cash flow declined sharply, and capital expenditures were below forecasts. Concerns about the return on the company’s AI investments weighed on the stock, which fell 11.45% in after‑hours trading.
Article source: Sing Tao Electronic Daily | Image credit: Sing Tao Electronic Daily