Gains in city market mostly came after the Fed's Powell gave a positive assessment of the U.S. economy during his semi-annual congressional testimony on Tuesday, indicating that gradual interest rate increases were warranted. Powell also touched on the matter of trade disputes between the U.S. and its trading partners, saying it was "difficult to predict" the implications of those on the economy.
Corporate news byte:- Cathay Pacific June pax traffic -- Cathay Pacific (00293) and Cathay Dragon carried a total of 2,925,385 passengers last month - an increase of 4.1% compared to June 2017. The passenger load factor increased 0.2 percentage points to 85.3%, while capacity, measured in available seat kilometres (ASKs), increased by 3.8%. In the first six months of 2018, the number of passenger carried grew by 1.9% while capacity increased by 3.2%. The two airlines carried 180,354 tonnes of cargo and mail last month, an increase of 5.8% compared to the same month last year. The cargo and mail load factor rose by 2.3 percentage points to 70.6%. Capacity, measured in available freight tonne kilometres (AFTKs), was up by 2.0% while cargo and mail revenue freight tonne kilometres (RFTKs) increased by 5.5%. In the first six months of 2018, the tonnage rose by 7.5% against a 4.1% increase in capacity and a 7.3% increase in RFTKs.
China Agri sees 60% growth in interim profit -- China Agri-Industries (00606) said it expects to record a profit attributable to owners of the company from the continuing operations of HK$750 million for the six months ended 30 June 2018, representing a significant increase of 60% as compared to the same for the corresponding period of 2017. Such rise in profit was mainly attributable to the continuous increase in sales volume of major products such as oilseed meals, vegetable oil, rice and flour.
China Shenhua June coal output down 0.4% -- China Shenhua Energy (01088) said its commercial coal production and coal sales for June amounted to 25 million tonnes and 39.1 million tonnes, a decrease of 0.4% and an increase of 2.1% from a year earlier. For the first six months of 2018, the accumulated commercial coal production and coal sales amounted to 145.8 million tonnes and 225.3 million tonnes, a decrease of 3.9% and an increase of 2.2% over the same period last year.
OFFSHORE MARKET NEWS: US stock market closed higher on Tuesday, after Fed chair Jerome Powell reiterated his quiet optimism for the US economy. In testimony to the US Senate Banking Committee, Mr Powell said the outlook was bright and that Fed policymakers believe that "with appropriate monetary policy, the job market will remain strong and inflation will stay near 2% over the next several years". Investors focused on company earnings, which aside from Netflix were mostly good. The S&P 500 index rose 11.12 points, or 0.4%, to 2,809.55. The Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 55.53 points, or 0.2%, to 25,119.89. The Nasdaq composite jumped 49.40 points, or 0.6%, to 7,855.12.
The major European markets also ended higher on Tuesday. The STOXX600 index lifted up 0.2%. The German export-focused DAX index gained 0.8%. The UK FTSE index rose by 0.3%.
COMMODITY NEWS: Crude oil price was little changed on Tuesday after a period of volatility. Benchmark U.S. crude erased an early loss and finished little changed at $68.08 a barrel in New York. Brent crude, used to price international oils, picked up 0.4% to $72.16 a barrel in London.
Base metal prices mostly declined on the London Metal Exchange on Tuesday due to US dollar strength. Aluminium was the worst performer (-1.9%), but zinc rebounded by 1.3%. Gold dripped 1% to $1,227.30 an ounce. Silver sank 1.2% to $15.62 an ounce.
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