Wall Street up in pre-market: at around 1pm Italian time, Dow Jones futures rise by 0.11%, Nasdaq futures rise by 0.50%, S&P 500 futures gain 0.31% %.
Investors are paying attention to the news on the Covid in China after the protests mounted over the weekend in several cities across the country.
Hong Kong stocks rallied today, with the Hang Seng index closing up 5.24% at 18,204.68 and the hi-tech sub-index Hang Seng Tech index soaring 7.66%.
In the last few hours, the authorities have announced an increase in vaccinations of older Chinese citizens in China: the news has been welcomed by the markets, as a higher number than the current number of vaccinations for the elderly is considered a crucial prerequisite for allow reopening.
So far, despite the strict Zero Covid policy adopted by the Beijing government, only 65.8% of over-80s have received the third dose.
The Chinese stock index CSI also made a comeback, which closed up 3.09% at 3,848.42, after the new cases of Covid in China fell compared to Sunday:
this is the first drop in new infections since November 19 last year.
In the pre-market on Wall Street, the rally was highlighted by some Chinese Big Tech stocks listed on the New York Stock Exchange, such as Alibaba, JD.com, Pinduoduo and Baidu. Bilibili stock has soared over 10%.
“There are reasons to be cautious – commented Adam Parker of Trivariate Research, in an interview with CNBC – The market has rallied sharply this quarter, and there is fear that the context is slowing down. So I think there is a balancing act between risk and reward. I believe that the fear of a slowdown in the Chinese economy was an excuse for some to lean towards realizing the profits that were collected in the quarter”.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average lost 497.57 points or 1.45% yesterday. The S&P 500 was down 1.54% while the Nasdaq Composite closed down 1.58%.