HANG Seng index futures greeted the Year of the Pig with relative optimism with the February contract rising by 110 points to 7,500.
Trading volume was at 12,310 contracts: 12,240 contracts in February and 69 contracts in March.
March futures gained by the same margin and made the same close at the same place as the front month contract. Both contracts were at a 22 point premium to the cash.
Jardine Fleming (JF) said, 'The markets greeted the 50 basis point rise in United States rates with relief and rose steadily upwards until fears of the impending deadline to the Sino-US trade talks halted the temporary optimism.' The brokerage said that the index option sentiment was mixed.
'Traders were most interested in February calls,' JF said.
Major bulls bought significantly out-of-the-money calls. Premium sellers, who believing the market would go nowhere in February, sold at-the-money calls.
