Hong Kong: Stocks follow Wall Street rally higher after jobs data

[SHANGHAI] Hong Kong stocks ended firmer on Monday, as local stocks tracked gains in Wall Street, which climbed on better than expected US jobs data.

The Hang Seng index rose 0.6 per cent, to 25,500.06 points, while the China Enterprises Index lost 0.4 per cent, to 10,214.58 points.

Sentiment was also aided by a surge in COSCO Shipping's and Hong Kong's Orient Overseas International Ltd's (OOIL) shares after the Chinese shipping giant made a US$6.3 billion offer for its smaller rival on Sunday.

China Vanke slid 3.6 per cent on its heaviest trading day in volume terms after an unnamed institutional investor launched a selldown worth about US$260 million in the mainland's second-largest property developer.

The southbound quota for the Shanghai-Hong Kong Connect , currently set at 10.5 billion yuan(S$2.13 billion), saw net inflows of 1.54 billion yuan.

The southbound leg of the Shanghai-Hong Kong Connect has seen strong inflows over the past two weeks, indicating mainland investors are looking for cheap stocks following a recent correction.

REUTERS