Update | Hong Kong stocks end higher on strong company quarterly earnings
Positive economic data from China also helped lift financial stocks, with the Hang Seng Index paring its losses for the week
Hong Kong stocks rose on Friday, paring losses for the week, as financial companies climbed thanks to strong quarterly earnings and solid economic data from China.
The Hang Seng Index gained 0.8 per cent, or 236.47 points, to 28,438.85, trimming its loss to 0.2 per cent for the week, but still the first weekly loss in a month. The Hang Seng China Enterprises Index advanced 1.7 per cent, or 197.36 points, to 11,643.57, the highest level since July 2015.
The Hang Seng Index has been consolidating after it rose to an almost 10-year high last week. It is the best-performing among Asia’s major stock markets this year with a gain of 29 per cent. Turnover stood at HK$100.5 billion, up from HK$84.2 billion on Thursday.
“Hong Kong stocks are catching up with rising US stocks after dipping for a few days,” said Castor Pang Wai-sun, the head of research at Core Pacific-Yamaichi. “Earnings reports from major banks are also better than expected.”
Financial companies led the advance, with the subindex rising 1.8 per cent and contributing 677.7 points to the Hang Seng Index.
A bounce in September profits at Chinese industrial companies announced on Friday spurred optimism that the asset quality of Chinese banks will improve, said Wang Chen, a partner with Xufunds Investment Management in Shanghai.
“Investors are following the earnings theme and they are looking for stocks with solid earnings,” said Wang. “The good trend on the Hong Kong market is still there and it will set a new high any time soon.”