Update | Hong Kong stocks cap fourth week of gains
Sands China and Galaxy Entertainment climb on Macau’s better gaming revenues, HKEX also jumps; SF drops in Shenzhen amid dispute with Alibaba’s Cainiao
Hong Kong stocks closed higher on Friday, capping a fourth week of gains, as casino operators advanced after Macau’s gaming revenues beat market expectations.
At the same time smaller companies led mainland stocks to reverse earlier losses, as the ChiNext gauge of small-cap shares rebounded after touching a 28-month low.
The Hang Seng Index gained 0.4 per cent, or 114.83 points, to close at 25,924.05, the highest finish since July 3, 2015. For the week, it advanced 1.1 per cent, capping its fourth consecutive weekly gain. The Hang Seng China Enterprises Index, which tracks the performance of Chinese companies listed in Hong Kong, also added 0.4 per cent, or 46.55 points, to end at 10,666.43.
“The [Hang Seng] index will continue to trade around the 25,800 level,” said Louis Tse Ming-kwong, a director of VC Brokerage. “The psychological level is 26,000. The index will see a major resistance at 26,200.”
Tse said the recent gains were fuelled by a stronger yuan and optimism that mainland shares might be added to MSCI’s emerging-market index later this month.
The Hang Seng Index has climbed 18 per cent this year, while the mainland’s benchmark Shanghai Composite Index has added just 0.1 per cent as a government-led financial deleveraging weighs on equities.