Hong Kong: Shares post biggest rise in 3 weeks

[HONG KONG] Hong Kong shares rose on Wednesday, in line with most Asian markets, as mainland stocks had big gains and investors expect China to make stimulus moves to boost economic growth.

The Shanghai Composite Index produced its biggest one-day rise in more than five years as investor confidence returned after both major mainland indexes plunged 7.7 per cent on Monday.

Sam Chi Yung, strategist at Delta Asia Financial Group in Hong Kong, said previous mainland rallies were liquidity driven, and now investors are focusing more on fundamentals. "Investor sentiment in Hong Kong has recovered and the overall tone is positive. Investors are betting on more easing policies from China," he said.

The Hang Seng index rose 1.7 per cent, to 24,352.58 points, and the China Enterprises Index 2.4 per cent, to 12,021.32 points. The gains were the biggest since Dec 29.

Among the most actively traded stocks on Hong Kong's main board were CCT Land Holdings Ltd, unchanged at HK$0.02, Bank Of China, up 2.6 per cent at HK$4.40 and Cypress Jade Agricultural Holdings Ltd, up 26.6 per cent at HK$0.14.

Chinese investment flowing from Shanghai into Hong Kong through the mutual market access pilot programme took up 0.94 billion yuan (US$151.32 million) of the 10.5 billion yuan daily quota.

Total trading volume of companies included in the HSI index was 1.9 billion shares.

REUTERS