Hong Kong: Shares close higher as China stocks sizzle

[HONG KONG] Hong Kong shares rose on Thursday as mainland China markets extended their blistering rally, with financial and energy stocks leading the gains.

The Hang Seng Index rose 1.7 per cent, to 23,832.56 points, while the China Enterprises Index gained 3.8 per cent, to 11,481.03 points.

China stocks soared to their highest level since mid-2011 on Thursday, led by financial and oil shares, as the market's rally on expectations of further economic stimulus measures showed no signs of losing steam.

Among the most actively traded stocks on Hong Kong's main board were CCT Land Holding, down 6.3 per cent to HK$0.02, Bank Of China, up 3.2 per cent to HK$4.16 and China Construction Bank, up 2.4 per cent to HK$5.99.

Chinese investment flowing from Shanghai into Hong Kong through the mutual market access pilot programme took up 0.41 billion yuan of the 10.5 billion yuan (US$1.7 billion) daily quota .

Total trading volume of companies included in the the HSI index was 3.6 billion shares.

REUTERS