Hong Kong: Shares have best day in 2 weeks as oil majors jump

[HONG KONG] Hong Kong stocks had their best day in two weeks, aided by strength on Wall Street, and a sharp rebound in energy shares after oil prices bounced off 11-year lows.

The Hang Seng index rose 1.0 per cent, to 22,040.59, while the China Enterprises Index gained 1.6 per cent, to 9,882.95 points.

But trading was extremely thin during a shortened trading week due to Friday's Christmas holiday. Hang Seng's trading volume was merely 1.1 billion shares, slightly higher than the previous session's 945 million shares, which was a 10-month low.

The market was bolstered by index heavyweights and oil giants PetroChina, CNOOC and Sinopec , which rose sharply after a rebound in oil prices.

An index tracking energy shares jumped 3.4 per cent.

Shares in Guotai Junan International Holdings Ltd surged 8.1 per cent, their biggest one-day gain in nearly two months, after the Chinese brokerage said its chairman had resumed duty after helping Chinese authorities with an unspecified investigation.

REUTERS