Hong Kong: Shares close flat, China rally offsets Fed chief's message

[SHANGHAI] Hong Kong shares finished flat on Thursday, after a rally in China's stock market offset losses on the Federal Reserve's message of a possible "liftoff" in US interest rates in December.

"The comment on the possible US rate hike from Yellen hindered the market a little bit," said Patrick Yiu, an associate director at Cash Asset Management.

The Hang Seng index was unchanged at 23,051.04, while the China Enterprises Index gained 0.5 per cent, to 10,617.67 points.

Federal Reserve Chair Janet Yellen on Wednesday pointed to a possible December interest rate "liftoff" but said rates would rise only slowly from then on to nurture the US economic recovery.

Total trading volume of companies included in the HSI index was 1.5 billion shares.

REUTERS