Hong Kong: Shares gain for 5th day despite eurozone concerns

[HONG KONG] Hong Kong shares inched up on Monday to notch a fifth consecutive day of gains, shrugging off renewed concerns over potential instability in the eurozone after an anti-austerity party won the Greek general election.

Analysts said the investor sentiment was only slightly hurt by the worries over the eurozone.

"The overall tone is just cautious not negative. The market turns to a risk-off mood on specific stocks that are affected by the election. Shanghai Composite (Index) still gained, which eases the pressure," said Castor Pang, head of research at Core Pacific-Yamaichi in Hong Kong.

The Hang Seng index rose 0.2 per cent, to 24,909.90 points, while the China Enterprises Index lost 0.3 per cent, to 12,228.16 points.

Among the most actively traded stocks on Hong Kong's main board were China National Culture Group Ltd, up 11.2 per cent at HK$0.15, CCT Land Holdings Ltd, unchanged at HK$0.02 and Cypress Jade Agricultural Holdings Ltd, up 15.2 per cent at HK$0.15.

Chinese investment flowing from Shanghai into Hong Kong through the mutual market access pilot programme took up 0.65 billion yuan (US$103.96 million) of the 10.5 billion yuan daily quota.

Total trading volume of companies included in the HSI index was 1.4 billion shares.

REUTERS