[Zhenzhuo Institutional View] The US economy presents a "mixed" complex situation, with Stock Connect net inflows of HK$3.37 billion on Friday

The latest University of Michigan data reveals a "mixed" and complex picture of the U.S. economy. Although the final December consumer confidence index edged up to 52.9, it still fell short of market expectations and remained at historically low levels, reflecting continued extreme fragility in consumer sentiment. Encouragingly, inflation expectations cooled significantly, with the one-year inflation expectation dropping to 4.2%, hitting an 11-month low, while the long-term expectation also fell to 3.2%, indicating that the Federal Reserve's anti-inflation measures are gradually taking effect and consumer panic over runaway prices has eased somewhat. However, the underlying concerns in the data cannot be ignored. Consumers' assessment of the "current situation" declined rather than rose, and anxiety about the labor market is replacing inflation as a new source of panic.

Southbound Stock Connect saw a net inflow of HK$3.37 billion on Friday, with Tencent Holdings (00700.HK) $TENCENT(00700.HK) recording the largest net inflow at HK$1.12 billion, followed by Alibaba (09988.HK) $BABA-W(09988.HK); China Mobile (00941.HK) $CHINA MOBILE(00941.HK) saw the largest net outflow at HK$1.05 billion, followed by Horizon Robotics (09660.HK).

Source: KGI Securities