The Hong Kong stock market has moved higher in two straight sessions, gathering more than 100 points or 0.4 percent along the way. The Hang Seng Index now sits just beneath the 20,600-point plateau and its tipped to open in the green again on Tuesday.
The global forecast for the Asian markets is positive following a sharp drop in the price of oil. The European and U.S. markets were up and the Asian bourses are expected to follow that lead.
The Hang Seng finished slightly higher on Monday following gains from the properties, weakness from the financials and a mixed picture from the technology companies.
For the day, the index rose 9.21 points or 0.04 percent to finish at 20,599.36 after trading between 20,428.94 and 20,669.41.
Among the actives, Alibaba Group and Nongfu Spring both strengthened 1.36 percent, while Alibaba Health Info jumped 1.53 percent, ANTA Sports gained 0.63 percent, China Life Insurance slumped 1.07 percent, China Mengniu Dairy and Hang Lung Properties both surged 2.76 percent, China Resources Land and Galaxy Entertainment both soared 2.19 percent, CITIC added 0.65 percent, CNOOC declined 1.16 percent, CSPC Pharmaceutical dropped 0.64 percent, Haier Smart Home stumbled 1.32 percent, Henderson Land rose 0.39 percent, Hong Kong & China Gas and Meituan both perked 0.16 percent, Industrial and Commercial Bank of China skidded 0.84 percent, JD.com climbed 1.28 percent, Lenovo retreated 1.27 percent, Li Auto advanced 0.90 percent, Li Ning rallied 1.39 percent, New World Development improved 0.86 percent, Techtronic Industries sank 0.35 percent, Xiaomi Corporation tumbled 1.73 percent, WuXi Biologics dipped 0.11 percent and ENN Energy was unchanged.
The lead from Wall Street is upbeat as the major averages opened modestly higher on Monday and stayed that way throughout the trading day.
The Dow rallied 273.17 points or 0.65 percent to finish at 42,387.57, while the NASDAQ gained 48.58 points or 0.26 percent to finish at 18,567.19 and the S&P 500 added 15.40 points or 0.27 percent to end at 5,823.52.
The strength on Wall Street came amid a steep drop by the price of oil. Oil prices fell sharply on Monday as concerns about supply disruptions faded after Israel avoided hitting Iranian oil facilities over the weekend. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for December plunged $4.40 or 6.1 percent at $67.38 a barrel.
Meanwhile, traders were also looking ahead to the release of key U.S. economic data later in the week. The monthly jobs report as well as a report on personal income and spending that includes the Federal Reserves preferred inflation readings are likely to be in the spotlight.
The data could impact the outlook for the economy as well as expectations regarding how quickly the Fed will lower interest rates.