Continued gains in Chinese oil companies and Hong Kong property firms Wednesday led the Hang Seng Index to finish higher for the second day.
The blue-chip Hang Seng Index rose 247.88 points, or 1.08 percent, to 23,169.55 after trading between 22,938.05 and 23,534. 49 during the session. The index rose 1.35 percent Tuesday also on gains in oil and property companies. The total turnover was 82.53 billion HK dollars (10.59 billion U.S. dollars), up from 67.22 billion HK dollars (8.63 billion U.S. dollars) of the previous day.
All the four major categories gained ground. The Properties added most at 1.64 percent, followed by the Finance at 1.30 percent, the Utilities at 1.01 percent and the Commerce and Industry at 0.75 percent.
PetroChina, which has the third biggest weighting in the Hang Seng Index, rose 2.4 percent to 11.20 HK dollars. The company has risen 5.3 percent in two days. Sinopec rose 1.5 percent to 8.65 HK dollars and Cnooc ended 2 percent higher at 11.50 HK dollars.
Hong Kong property firms extended Tuesday's gains, largely on expectations of more cuts in local interest rates. Henderson Land rose 2.1 percent to 62.20 HK dollars, while Sun Hung Kai Properties rose 1.9 percent to 137.90 HK dollars and Cheung Kong was up 1.5 percent at 116.00 HK dollars.
Hong Kong banks did not fully match the 50 basis point cut in U. S. rates late last month, cutting their best lending rates by only a quarter percentage point. But analysts said local banks may soon cut rates in line with the Federal Reserve, as they have considerable room to adjust their lending rates downward as a result of ample interbank liquidity.
Source: Xinhua
|
Comment
Tell A Friend
Print Format
Save Article