Hong Kong Stocks May Add To Gains

The global forecast for the Asian markets is optimistic, although some investors may be reluctant to take heavy positions ahead of the long Lunar New Year holiday. Commodities are expected to provide good support, along with steel stocks and technology shares. The European markets finished mixed and the U.S. bourses were firmly higher - and now the Asian markets are also projected to track higher at the opening.

The Hang Seng finished sharply higher on Thursday, thanks to gains among the financials, telecoms and properties.

For the day, the index surged 368.47 points or 1.9 percent to finish at 20,290.69 after trading between 20,095.53 and 20,310.79 on turnover of 52.94 billion Hong Kong dollars.

Among the gainers, Bank Of East Asia added 3.0 percent, while SMIC surged 6.3 percent, China Unicom jumped 5.06 percent, China Telecom gained 2.45 percent, China Mobile was up 1.8 percent, Bank of Communications climbed 3.77 percent and Bank of China gained 2.41 percent.

The lead from Wall Street is broadly positive as stocks saw substantial gains on Thursday, with the increased likelihood of the European Union crafting a bailout package for Greece and upbeat jobs data driving markets higher. The major averages all closed in positive territory, further offsetting their recent losses.

The day's advance came as an informal EU summit pledged solidarity with Greece and determined measures to defend the euro zone, although it did not reveal financial specifics regarding a bailout package for the debt-challenged country. Nonetheless, the amount of sovereign debt in other countries remains an overhang on the markets.

The markets also benefited from a positive sign from the beleaguered labor market, as the U.S. Labor Department released a report showing that initial jobless claims for the week ended February 6th fell to 440,000 from the previous week's revised figure of 483,000. Economists had been expecting jobless claims to slip to 465,000 from the 480,000 originally reported for the previous week.

While the headline jobless claims figure pulled back off the more than two-month high set in the previous week, they remain above the more than one-year low set in late December.

With earnings season grinding to a close, PepsiCo Inc. (PEP) Viacom Inc. (VIA) Credit Suisse Group (CS) and Allstate Corp. (ALL) reported widely mixed quarterly results, while corporate earnings largely beat estimates during the current reporting period.

The major averages were in a holding pattern in late-session trading, closing near their best levels of the day. The Dow rose by 105.81 points or 1.1 percent to 10,144.19, the NASDAQ gained 29.54 points or 1.4 percent to close at 2,177.41 and the S&P 500 closed up by 10.34 points or 1 percent at 1,078.47.

In economic news, China's consumer prices rose 1.5 percent year-on-year in January, the National Bureau of Statistics said on Thursday, missing analyst expectations for a 2.1 percent increase following the 1.9 percent growth in the previous month.

On a monthly basis, the consumer price index rose 0.6 percent in January after a 1 percent upturn in December.

The statistical bureau also said that producer prices surged 4.3 percent annually in January. This came above expectations for a 3.5 percent inflation rate after the 1.7 percent increase in the preceding month.

Also, China's National Development and Reform Commission on Thursday announced that property prices in 70 major cities across the country were up 9.5 percent year-on-year in January, faster than the 7.8 percent increase in the previous month.

Property prices rocketed 20.6 percent in Shenzhen, while prices in Beijing and Guangzhou were up 10.2 percent and 10.6 percent, respectively.

On a monthly basis, nationwide property prices climbed 1.3 percent in January, after the 1.5 percent increase a month ago.

Finally, the People's Bank of China reiterated on Thursday that it will continue an "appropriately loose" monetary policy. The central bank also said that it will gradually guide monetary conditions back to a normal situation.

China's economy is expected to maintain stable and rapid growth, the central bank said in its latest quarterly Monetary Policy Report.

Earlier in the day, the PBoC said Chinese banks extended CNY 1.39 trillion in new local-currency loans in January, up from CNY 379.80 billion in December. Household loans were worth CNY 450.20 billion while non-financial companies and other sector loans amounted to CNY 941.50 billion.

In corporate news, Chinese solar-power products maker JA Solar Holdings on Thursday posted an increase in fourth-quarter profit from prior year, on strong revenue growth supported by significant increase in shipment volume.

JA Solar's fourth-quarter profit increased to RMB 152.53 million or US$22.3 million from RMB148.79 million in the year-ago period. Earnings per American Depositary Shares or ADS were RMB 0.94 or US$0.14, compared with net loss per ADS of RMB 0.68 or US$0.10 in the previous year quarter. For the sequential third quarter, the company has recorded a profit of RMB 0.66 or US$10 per share.