Hong Kong's Hang Seng jumps 4% led by gains in property and consumer stocks

Hong Kong equities saw a "big rebound" Friday, with the Hang Seng Index surging more than 4%.

Everbright Securities' Kenny Ng suggested that the U.S. debt ceiling bill clearing Congress, as well as the better-than-expected factory activity data for May out earlier this week contributed to the rebound.

"From a technical perspective, the Hang Seng Index was oversold before the rebound... This suggests that the rebound today may be technically driven," Ng said.

The index briefly slipped into bear market territory on Wednesday.

Ng said to monitor two key indicators that would point to a true turnaround: sustained increase in trading volume in the market and the index holding above its 10-day moving average, which currently hovers around 18,900.

—Lee Ying Shan

Asia-Pacific markets are looking ahead to a slew of economic data Monday.

Caixin is expected to release its China services activity reading for May, after marking four consecutive months above the 50-mark line demarcating growth and contraction.

Singapore is scheduled to release its retail sales data for April. In March retail sales rose 4.5%, far slower than the two-digit growth posted in the previous month.

—Lee Ying Shan

Chinese electric car startup Li Auto said its deliveries topped 20,000 in May for a third-straight month.

The total of 28,277 car deliveries was up by about 146% from a year ago.

In contrast, competitors Nio and Xpeng both reported a year-over-year drop in monthly deliveries.

Li Auto's vehicles come with a fuel tank to charge the battery and extend driving range.

— Evelyn Cheng

The Senate passed a bill Thursday night to raise the debt ceiling, sending it to President Joe Biden's desk.

He is expected to sign the legislation Friday, preventing what would have been the first-ever U.S. sovereign debt default.

The House-approved compromise bill passed the Senate by a 63-36 margin, garnering sufficient bipartisan support to overcome the chamber's 60-vote threshold to avoid a filibuster.

U.S. stock futures were slightly higher ahead of the vote and held at those levels after the bill was passed. Futures tied to the Dow Jones Industrial Average were up about 30 points.

— Christine Wang, Christina Wilkie

Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index popped 3% led by gains in technology and consumer stocks, according to data from Refinitiv as of 10:30 a.m. Hong Kong time.

The index's top movers included automotive company Zhongsheng Group surging 8.70%. Sportswear company Li-Ning added 6.72%.

Technology heavyweights Baidu and JD.Com also drove gains, surging 5.59% and 4.26% respectively. Meituan rose 4.52%. Tencent rose 4.5% and Alibaba climbed 4.98%.

–Lee Ying Shan

Oil prices traded slightly above the flatline as traders look toward an OPEC+ meeting this weekend.

Global benchmark Brent inched 0.2% lower at $74.44 a barrel Friday, while the U.S. West Texas Intermediate futures was 0.24% down to $70.27 per barrel.

"If [OPEC] don't do anything, we could really see prices sell off, we've seen them selling off this week," said Kpler's lead oil analyst Matt Smith.

The oil cartel is not likely to deepen output cuts in the upcoming meeting, Reuters reported citing sources from the alliance.

Smith forecasts that Brent prices could slip to $70 per barrel should OPEC maintain the status quo.

"Oil prices fell sharply in May, with the WTI benchmark dropping below USD70/b," HSBC wrote in a report dated June 1. The bank noted that the decline came despite the previously announced OPEC+ production cuts coming into effect during the month.

Aside from the uncertainty that had been swirling around the U.S. debt ceiling standoff, China's subdued growth indicators also weighed on prices, the report noted.

—Lee Ying Shan

South Korea's inflation data for May came in 3.3% higher than a year ago and in line with Reuters' expectations.

The figure dipped from April's inflation print of 3.7%. On a monthly basis, consumer prices rose 0.25%, up from 0.2% in the previous month.

The reading also marks the slowest increase since October 2021, according to Refinitiv data.

The Korean won last traded 1,311.4 against the dollar.

— Lee Ying Shan

Global artificial intelligence revenue will reach $180 billion this year and grow to nearly $2 trillion by 2030 — and it will be a key driver of semiconductor revenue, Morgan Stanley says.

Investors are already buying into the AI buzz. Nvidia shares surged last week after it reported earnings that blew past expectations.

Morgan Stanley names one stock that will be a "key beneficiary of NVDA's AI opportunity."

CNBC Pro subscribers can read more here.

— Weizhen Tan

Data on nonfarm payrolls, the unemployment rate and hourly wages due Friday will highlight the challenges the Fed faces heading into the June policy meeting, according to Joe Davis, chief economist at Vanguard.

Economists polled by Dow Jones expected non-farm payrolls to rise by 190,000 in May, which would be a smaller monthly increase than the 253,000 added in April. They forecast an unemployment rate of 3.5%, slightly higher than the 3.4% seen in April.

Hourly wages are expected to grow 0.3% on a monthly basis and 4.4% compared with the same month a year ago. In April, wages rose 0.48% month over month and 4.45% on an annualized basis.

"We believe tomorrow's labor market report will underline the challenges the Fed continues to face in their push to drive inflation back towards target," Davis said. "We remain of the view that they should raise rates in June to enforce their resolve before pausing for some time to assess the impact on macro conditions, though the more important aspect of our perspectives remains the Fed being on hold through at least the end of the year."

"Indications of continued labor market tightness in tomorrow's report would provide further support for these views," he added.

— Alex Harring

First-quarter earnings season is winding down with 99% of S&P 500 companies having reported results. Seventy-eight percent of S&P 500 companies have reported a positive earnings-per-share surprise for the quarter, which is above the five-year average of 77%, according to FactSet.

Earnings growth has disappointed compared to the long-term average, however. S&P 500 companies are beating earnings estimates by 6.5% in aggregate, which is below the five-year average of 8.4%, according to FactSet.

— Yun Li