Update | Hong Kong stocks end higher after daily quotas quadrupled for Stock Connect links
Daily southbound and northbound quotas quadrupled for Shanghai-Hong Kong and Shenzhen-Hong Kong connects to 42b yuan and 52b yuan, respectively
Stocks in Hong Kong and mainland China ended higher on Wednesday, after Beijing announced that it would quadruple the daily quotas for the Hong Kong-Shanghai and Hong Kong-Shenzhen Stock Connect trading links in a step to bring the city and mainland markets closer.
The move was among a slew of measures to open up of China’s financial sector to foreign investment, unveiled by Yi Gang, the newly appointed governor of the People’s Bank of China at the ongoing Boao Forum for Asia in Hainan province.
“The quota increases are positive as A-shares in Shanghai have been included in the MSCI Emerging Markets Index,” said Kenny Tang Sing-hing, chief executive of Jun Yang Securities. “But in the short term the effect will be limited, as for now only about 70 per cent of the quota is being used.”
The benchmark Hang Seng Index rose 0.55 per cent, or 168.97 points, to 30,897.71, gaining for a fourth straight day although turnover slipped to HK$132.97 billion (US$16.94 billion) from Tuesday’s HK$138.35 billion.
The Hang Seng China Enterprises Index, or the H-share gauge, was virtually unchanged at 12,324.68.
