HK rally, penny focus and attack on Noble in the news

THERE were three main features worth talking about in the past week - Hong Kong's massive outperformance which has led to more than the usual envious glances from local players, a sudden resurgence of interest in micro-penny stocks after more than a year of no interest, and a second short-selling attack on Noble Group in three months, this time by well-known short-seller Muddy Waters.

The play on Hong Kong came because the market there was a) closed for three days because of Easter and so was supposed to catch up with a China market that rallied during that period; b) seen as being undervalued relative to China; and c) opened up to China investors recently, with investors reportedly hungry to put large amounts of cash into stocks.

As a result, the Hang Seng Index exploded on the upside this week, gaining an eye-watering 8 per cent over four trading days.