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Georgina Lee

Deb Price

Good day, traders --
Hong Kong and mainland stocks finished higher.
Catch up on the day's action below.
Please help us improve our blog by taking this quick -- under 2 minutes! -- survey. Your feedback will really help us make the blog better for you!
Also, if you would like the Live Stocks Blog emailed to you each morning, shoot Deb a message at deb.price@scmp.com.
--- Georgina Lee and Deb Price in Hong Kong 

Note: Information in this blog is on an "as is" basis and not a solicitation or offer to buy or sell any securities or otherwise; and is not investment/professional advice or services in this regard.  It is subject to our T&C.  SCMP (as defined in T&C) shall not be liable for any loss, damage and costs relating to any investments in securities or otherwise in this connection.
 


Stocks Blog: Want Want China shoots up on results; Tencent gains  

People walk past a logo of China's e-commerce giant Alibaba in Hangzhou, China. Excitement about Alibaba's coming IPO boosted trading sentiment in Hong Kong Tuesday. Photo: Xinhua

Police arrested many hard-core protesters on Monday, but about 100 activists remain inside Polytechnic University in Hong Kong today. The protests have weighed on Hong Kong stocks, especially those of retailers and shopping mall owners. Photo: Sam Tsang

Business

Markets

Alibaba seeing strong interest in orders for its secondary listing
China indexes close with biggest percentage gain in two weeks


Alibaba seeing strong interest in orders for its US$13.9 billion Hong Kong secondary listing. China indexes close with biggest percentage gain in two weeks. 


Stocks

China stock market

Hong Kong protests

Trade war

Alibaba

Tencent

Kweichow Moutai

Live

Chinese investment bank China International Capital Corporation (CICC; 3908 HK) posted a 15 per cent jump in net profit for the first three quarters of this year.
Net income rose to 3.1 billion yuan over the first nine months of 2019, from 2.7 billion yuan in the same period last year. Revenue climbed 14 per cent to 11.2 billion yuan.
-- Yujing Liu 


CICC posts jump in net profit for first three quarters

Chinese courier giant SF Express (002352 SZ) reported a 24 per cent surge in delivery service revenue in October to 9 billion yuan from the same period last year.
Delivery volume soared by 48 per cent to 438 million packages in last month, the company said in a stock exchange filing on Monday night.
Meanwhile, its smaller rival YTO Express Group (600233 SH) posted a 16 per cent rise in delivery revenue to 2.4 billion in October. Delivery volume climbed by 37 per cent to 861 million packages.
-- Yujing Liu    


Chinese couriers post jump in October revenue

Hong Kong media giant Next Digital Group (282 HK), founded by high-profile mogul Jimmy Lai Chee-ying, reported a widening loss in interim earnings.
Net loss increased by 8.9 per cent to HK$312 million for the six months ended on September 30, the company said in a stock exchange filing on Monday evening.
Revenue from Apple Daily, the Chinese-language pro-democracy newspaper, recorded a 15 per cent plunge to HK$56.5 million, it said.
-- Yujing Liu    


Owner of Apple Daily newspaper reports widening loss

Here’s what we are watching this morning:
Overnight markets/ What futures foretell
--The S&P 500 inched up 0.05 per cent, the Nasdaq rose 0.11 per cent and the Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 0.11 per cent. 
-- Hong Kong futures fell 0.3 per cent, and the FTSE China A50 futures also declined 0.3 per cent
IPO debuts: CMON Limited (1792 HK) will transfer from GEM to debut on the main board of the Hong Kong Stock Exchange 
Economic statistics/Central Bank action: None to note
Earnings: No major earnings    


Morning guidance 

Shanghai Fosun Pharma’s Indian subsidiary, Gland Pharma, has won tentative approval from the US Food & Drug Administration (FDA) on irinotecan hydrochloride on Monday, Bloomberg first reported, citing information from the FDA.
Irinotecan hydrochloride is used alone or in combination with other drugs to treat colorectal cancer that has spread to other parts of the body, including metastatic cancer that has recurred, or for patients that do not respond to chemotherapy, according the information on the website of National Cancer Institute in the US.
Shanghai Fosun Pharma acquired Hyderabad-based Gland Pharma in October 2017.
It and its subsidiaries together indirectly own 74 per cent in Gland Pharma, which is primarily engaged in the development of small molecule injectable generic drugs.
Shanghai Fosun Pharma has proposed spinning off and listing the Gland Pharma on the Indian exchanges, the National Stock Exchange and the Bombay Stock Exchange, through an IPO. Shareholders will vote on the proposal in December this year.
The share price of Shanghai Fosun Pharma (600196 CH) gained 0.4 per cent to 27.78 yuan in early trading.
-- Georgina Lee 


Shanghai Fosun Pharma’s Indian unit gets tentative approval from US on cancer drug

The CSI 300, which tracks blue chips listed on the Shenzhen and Shanghai exchanges, dropped 0.1 per cent at 3,904.1.
The Shanghai Composite Index was down 0.2 per cent to 2,904.28. The Shenzhen Component Index ticked up by less than 0.1 per cent, to 9,721.01.
In Shanghai, People’s Insurance (601319 CH) lost 4.6 per cent at 6.83 yuan; Ribo Fashion Group (603196 CH) lost 10 per cent, hitting the daily down-limit, at 9.52 yuan. Liquor distiller Kweichow Moutai (600519 CH) was flat, at 1,228 yuan.
The Hang Seng Index was up by less than 0.1 per cent, at 26,697.03.
Selective Hong Kong properties were ahead.
New World Development (17 HK) rose 1.7 per cent to HK$10.76; Swire Properties (1972 HK) rose 1.3 per cent to HK$23.55; and Sino Land (83 HK) rose 1.1 per cent to HK$11.5.
-- Georgina Lee 


China stocks open south, while Hong Kong open higher

CMON Limited (1792 HK) moved from Hong Kong’s GEM board to debut on the main board of the Hong Kong’s stock exchange today.
The share price shot up 15. 4 per cent to HK$0.17
The board and tabletop game developer CMON has published many popular games, including Zombicide, Arcadia Quest, Blood Rage, Rising Sun, and Cthulhu: Death May Die. Three games it developed -- Xenoshyft, Rum and Bones and Blood Rage -- ranked among the top 10 games of 2015 by the famous gaming podcast the Dice Tower.
Chief Executive Chern Ann Ng said the company will still focus on tabletop games, although it’s also experimenting with mobile and electronic platforms.
“We have published some tabletop games on mobile and electronic platforms. That’s not our primary focus. I think we’re going to make hybrid tabletop games that use tabloid or phone to keep track of all the logistics of playing board games. The computer would know exactly what’s happening — the monster is attacking you and your running away is successful or not. So we’re excited about it. That’s going to be released next year. ”
 
CMON Limited (1792 HK) started trading on the main board of Hong Kong Stock Exchange today, after transferring from GEM. @SCMPNews @scmpbusiness @HKEXGroup pic.twitter.com/k5ztM8LTZC
  — Snow Xia (@SnowXia05) November 19, 2019
--Snow Xia   


Game developer CMON shoots up on move to Hong Kong’s main board

Man Wah Holdings (1999 HK) continued to rise, thanks to Citi raising its target price to HK$6.8, saying the stock continues to remain on its China mid-cap top pick list, Bloomberg reported.
The upgrade by Citi was driven by expected earnings recovery in the fiscal year of 2021, due to a successful ramp-up of its Vietnam factory, analyst Eric Lau wrote in a note.
Man Wah was up 2.3 per cent to HK$5.81, which is its highest price since July 30, 2018.


Sofa maker Man Wah Holdings continues to rise, now at near 16-month high

Mainland Chinese investors piled into Kingsoft (3888 HK) on Monday when its unit Beijing Kingsoft Office Software (688111 CH) debuted on the on Shanghai’s science and technology innovation board, dubbed the “Star” market.
Mainland Chinese investors bought HK$40.1 million of Kingsoft stock through through the Shanghai and Shenzhen southbound connect, making it the third most actively traded company on both, according to Hong Kong Exchange and Clearing data.
Kingsoft develops and operates online and mobile games, cloud services and other office software.
Its unit Beijing Kingsoft Office Software (688111 CH) closed on Monday at 126.35 yuan, nearly tripling from its IPO offer price at 45.86 yuan.
Today in early trading, Kingsoft gained 2.8 per cent at HK$18.3, while Beijing Kingsoft Office Software (688111 CH), which develops anti-virus software and also provides cloud computer, rose 3.7 per cent at 131 yuan.
-- Georgina Lee


Mainland investors pile in Kingsoft after its subsidiary debuts on Star board

Alibaba’s secondary listing in Hong Kong is already 2.7 times oversubscribed, according to a report in the Hong Kong Economic Times, based on what local brokers are seeing and as cited by Bloomberg.
Meanwhile, 12 brokers have extended a total of HK$8.8 billion in margin loans, Bloomberg reported. 
Because of the strong interest, Alibaba will stop taking orders from prospective institutional investors a half day early, Reuters reported, citing people familiar with the matter. Now order books will close on New York’s 12 pm Tuesday, Reuters reported.
“I knew it is several times oversubscribed. It is a relatively good result given the huge IPO amount and current market sentiment,” said Kenny Wen, wealth management strategist at Everbright Sun Hung Kai.
Wen said demand for Alibaba (which owns the South China Morning Post) has reduced short term liquidity. 
“Given the stock rotation -- from Tencent to Alibaba -- it may not be good news for the Hong Kong market given current market situations,” Wen said.
Tencent (700 HK) has gained 1.4 per cent to HK$334.60 in early trading.
Alibaba begins trading in Hong Kong next Tuesday.
-- Deb Price 


Alibaba seeing strong interest in orders for its Hong Kong secondary listing

Will Alibaba become available on the Stock Connect?
The answer is that it would require a change in Stock Connect practice.
Last December, Hong Kong and mainland exchanges in Shanghai and Shenzhen agreed that Hong Kong-listed companies with dual-class shares -- called weighted voting rights (WVR) -- would be allowed to be traded on the Stock Connect. 
The first such companies -- online ticketing and food delivery giant Meituan Dianping (3690 HK) and Chinese smartphone maker Xiaomi (1810 HK) -- became available to mainland traders on the Stock Connects on October 28.
But WVR with secondary listings are not included as of now in southbound Stock Connect trading, according to a reply from the Hong Kong  exchange operator to an inquiry. That would mean Alibaba, which originally listed in the US and is not delisting, would be a first.
“On your question about Alibaba and Stock Connect, we don’t comment on individual companies. What we can say is that, currently, WVR companies with a secondary listing are not included in southbound trading of Stock Connect,” Jeffery Ng, senior vice president of corporate communications at the Hong Kong Exchanges and Clearing, said in an email to me. 
“... (T)here are currently no secondary listed companies on Stock Connect,” he added.
Inclusion on the Stock Connect can boost a stock’s price. As of Monday’s close, Meituan Dianping had risen 7.8 per cent since it began trading on the Stock Connect, and has been a hit since then with southbound traders. 
Mainland investors have been eager to be able to invest in Chinese tech superstars, which have tended to list overseas due to what has been a slow and tedious process of listing in China. The securities regulator there says IPO reform is under way. 
Analysts expect Alibaba will be added at some point to the Stock Connect so that mainland traders can buy it. (Alibaba is the parent company of the South China Morning Post.)
Alibaba is set to begin trading next Tuesday.
-- Deb Price    


Will Alibaba be available on the Stock Connect?

Google isn’t the only game developer excited about cloud-based gaming.
A number of gaming developers this morning rose to the daily 10-per cent up-limit, benefiting from the excitement about Google’s launch of Stadia, which allows gamers to stream and play games without the need to even own a hard copy or a console. 
Google’s service will offer 22 games at launch this week, and on-demand cloud gaming service is also reportedly being tested by other software giants, including Microsoft.
Mainland investors expect that leading Chinese cloud computing giants Alibaba and Tencent (700 HK), will also launch more cloud gaming services, opening more business opportunities for game developers. Tencent has launched its cloud gaming solution this year.
Daily-limit gainers include: Huawei Culture (002502 CH), to 3.83 yuan; Hubei Century Network Tech (300494 CH), to 16.58 yuan;  Kingnet Network (002517 CH), to  2.81 yuan; Beijing Bewinner Communications (002148 CH), to 5.39 yuan, Ourpalm (300315 CH), to 5.4 yuan; and Great Wall International ACG (000835 CH), to 3.62 yuan.
Google is banned in China, which some analysts say could become one of the biggest cloud gaming market in the world. That’s partly thanks to China’s advancements in 5G mobile service and strong growth in its gaming industry, which generated revenue of 116.31 billion yuan in the first half this year, an increase of 10.8 per cent from a year ago, according to a China Daily report citing Chinese game database Gamma Data.
-- Georgina Lee    


Excitement over Google’s new cloud-based gaming launch spreads to China

China Construction Bank (601939 CH) and Ping An Bank (000001 CH) branches in Beijing were fined after being found to have engaged in loan practices that hurt small to medium enterprises (SME) and micro-enterprises, which have traditionally suffered from high interest rates charged by banks.
In 2018 and up to May 2019, China Construction Bank was found to have cross-sold personal insurance policies to some of the SME clients, according to Chinese government website www.gov.cn. Additionally, when approving loans for these SME clients, its bank executives also demanded these small corporate borrowers buy insurance protection policies on the collateral that they provided initially to secure the bank loans.
That violated the banking regulator’s priniciple to lower financing costs for small businesses, the government statement said.
In 2017 to 2019, Ping An Bank was also found to have violated similar cross-selling of personal insurance policies when vetting loans to small startup entrepreneurs. It charged these borrowers higher interest rates if they refused to also buy personal insurance, the goverment said.
Two branches of China Construction Bank in Beijing were each fined 300,000 yuan, while Ping An Bank was fined 500,000 yuan.
Shares of China Construction Bank in Shanghai were flat at 7.17 yuan, while Ping An Bank declined  0.2 per cent to 16.42 yuan.
-- Georgina Lee 


China Construction Bank and Ping An Bank fined over loan practices 

China Tower (788 HK), which builds telecommunication towers for the nation’s phone carriers, is the biggest in market capitalization terms among the 160 companies that will be affected by the regulator’s H-share so-called full circulation reform.
In a move that would result in better corporate governance – and more shares being released to the Hong Kong market for trading -- China’s securities regulator has officially moved to enable major shareholders of all Hong Kong-listed mainland companies to unlock their stock into ordinary tradable shares.
China Tower’s shareholders -- which count China Mobile Communications Group, China United Network Communications Group and two others firms -- together control 73.5 per cent of the company with the stock held by them counted as non-tradable.
Shares of China Tower is up 1.8 per cent at HK$1.66.
You can read Zhang Shidong’s story about this development here. 
-- Georgina Lee 


China Tower shares up on H-share reform step

The Shanghai Composite Index will start afternoon trading with gains.
It rose in the morning session 0.5 per cent to 2,923.
The three heavyweights on the index were mixed.
The Industrial and Commercial Bank of China (601398 CH) rose 0.2 per cent to 5.83 yuan, Kweichow Moutai (600519 CH) rose 0.3 per cent to 1,230.99 yuan, and the Agricultural Bank of China (601288 CH) was flat at 3.59 yuan.
Among mainland stocks in additional to Kweichow Moutai that heavily traded by northbound investors:
-- Jiangsu Hengrui Medicine (600276 CH)  rose 1.5 per cent to 94.32 yuan.
-- Ping An Insurance (601318 CH)  inched up 0.02 per cent  88.73.
In the broader China markets, a Xuangubao sector gauge shows gaming-linked stocks are up 5.9 per cent.
-- Deb Price     


Shanghai Index to start afternoon trading with gains

The Hang Seng Index rose 0.9 per cent in the morning to 26,907.19, with 40 of its 50 constituent stocks posting gains, nine losses and one unchanged.
Tencent (700 HK) rose 1.6 per cent to HK$335.20.
CSPC  Pharmaceutical (1093) rose 4.4 per cent to HK$21.45, while AAC Technologies Holdings (2018 HK) climbed 4 per cent to HK$55.40.
-- Deb Price    


Tencent gains in morning session

Snack and beverage maker Want Want China (151 HK) said at the noon market break that its net profit attributable to shareholders for the six months ended September rose 18.4 per cent, at 1.6 billion yuan from  1.4 billion yuan.
Revenue was almost flat, at 9.3 billion yuan from 9.24 billion yuan. Its operating profit margin improved 2.9 per centage points, at 22.1 per cent.
The snack food giant, which also produced diary products and beverages such as “Hot-kid Milk,” had 90 per cent of its revenue and business activities in mainland China for the reporting period. It declared an interim dividend of 0.64 US cents, up from 0.53 US cents a year ago.
Shares of Want Want China were last trading at  0.5 per cent at HK$6.36.
-- Georgina Lee    


Rice cracker maker Want Want China six month net profit up 19 per cent

Snack and beverage maker Want Want China  (151 HK) shot up 4.5 per cent to HK$6.68 after announcing its net profit attributable to shareholders for the six month ended September rose 18.4 per cent.
-- Deb Price    


Want Want China shoots up on six-month results 

Alibaba’s IPO will give a major boost to Hong Kong’s stock market, which has felt the sting of more than five months of anti-government protests and a simmering US-China trade war.
It will send the local stock exchange on a home run for the global IPO crown this year in competition with the New York Stock Exchange and Nasdaq.
Shares of Hong Kong Exchanges and Clearing (388 HK), known as HKEX and the owner and operator of the stock exchange, rose 2.6 per cent to HK$251.4.
According to a Reuters story citing unnamed sources, Alibaba is closing book earlier than expected from prospective institutional investors for its US$13.4 billion secondary listing in Hong Kong due to strong demand. An Alibaba spokeswoman declined to comment on that decision. The order books will now close Tuesday New York time 12pm, half a day earlier than its original schedule.
The final price institutional investors will pay will still be set by Wednesday evening Hong Kong time, based on Tuesday’s closing price in New York, these sources said.   
-- Georgina Lee 


HKEX rises, as strong demand seen for Alibaba’s Hong Kong secondary listing

In a research note today titled “PBOC shifts to a new easing strategy,” Societe Generale said it expects the People’s Bank of China (PBOC) to conduct more easing to stave off further slowdown pressure confronting the economy, and achieving this through “materially lowering” the real economy funding’s cost.
“We expect the PBOC to keep adopting this combination in future easing: lowering the 7-day reverse repo rate and 1-year MLF (medium-term lending facility) in lock-step, accompanied by step-up in liquidity injections to push down market rates,” analysts Wei Yao and Michelle Lam wrote.
Societe Generale’s comment came after the PBOC on Monday surprisingly cut its 7-day reverse repo rate to 2.5 per cent from 2.55 per cent, the first such cut since 2015. It also injected 180 billion yuan into the financial system. 
Monday’s cut followed a previous cut in the 1-year MLF to 3.25 per cent from 3.3 per cent on November 5. The MLF is a type of central bank’s lending to commercial banks.
Through the reverse repo, the central bank buys short-term bonds from commercial banks with an agreement to sell them back in the future.
--Georgina Lee    


Societe Generale sees more rate cuts and liquidity injection by China’s central bank

With its large market capitalization, Alibaba could replace a Hang Seng constituent stock on the index possibly in February or March next year, said Louis Tse Ming-kwong, managing director of VC Asset Management.
“The market cap is getting much bigger than those already there. They’re bound to be a kind of vertical upgrade,” Tse said.
“As a fund manager, I follow the Hang Seng Index and I become passive because Hang Seng becomes a benchmark for my performance ... I will follow the Hang Seng index constituents to see how I allocate my source of fund,” said Tse. 
“If Alibaba becomes a constituent stock, the fund manager has to buy a portion of Alibaba in his asset allocation, if he follows the index ... If you don’t have Alibaba in your asset allocation, that would be ridiculous.”
But it doesn’t mean a stock kicked out of the constituents will be less attractive, he said, because the investors would consider not only the market capitalisation of the company but also other factors such as its representation in its sector, its uniqueness, price-to-earning ratio, management quality, and free float (the outstanding shares available for the public to trade), Tse said.
Alan Li, portfolio manager at Atta Capital, said it is time to shake up the 50-member Hang Seng Index. 
“There are too many old economy and Hong Kong property stocks on the Hang Seng Index that drag down its performance,” Li said. “I think it’s time to kick some low market capital properties out.”
As of now, there is no company with dual-class shares, giving different voting rights, and secondary listings -- like Alibaba -- on the Stock Connect, according to the Hong Kong exchange operator. China would need to give it the green light to trade on the Connect.
To be added to the Hang Seng Index, a stock must meet certain requirements of market value, turnover size and time they have been on the market.
-- Snow Xia and Deb Price   


When will Alibaba be on the Hang Seng Index?

The CSI 300, which tracks blue chips listed on the Shanghai and Shenzhen bourses, closed 1 per cent higher, at 3,947.04, while the Shanghai Composite Index rose 0.9 per cent, at 2,933.99. Both gains were biggest since November 1.
Gains on the Shenzhen Component were even larger: 1.8 per cent, sending the index to 9,889.75.
“Market sentiment continues to improve, thanks to the 180 billion yuan liquidity injection by China’s central bank as it cut the 7-day reverse repo rate to 2.5 per cent for the first time in four years. That has been taken by the market to expect more supportive monetary measures will follow in the near term,”  said Alvin Cheung, associate director at Prudential Brokerage.
Leading Shanghai higher was Jiangsu Hengrui Medicine (600276 CH), which rose 2.9 per cent to 95.63 yuan. Meanwhile, distiller giant Kweichow Moutai (600519 CH) rose 0.4 per cent to  1,232.32 yuan, and Industrial and Commercial Bank of China (601398 CH) rose 0.5 per cent to  5.85 yuan.
Mobile gaming-related stocks pushed the Index higher in Shenzhen, with many jumping to the 10 per cent daily limit.
These include Wuhu Sanqi Interactive Entertainment Network Tech (002555 CH), to 21.49 yuan; Perfect World (002624 CH) to 33.64 yuan; and Hangzhou Shunwang Tech (300113 CH), to 23.31 yuan.
As Google launches its cloud gaming service, Stadia, mainland investors are betting that leading Chinese cloud computing giants Alibaba and Tencent (700 HK) will also launch more cloud gaming services, opening more business opportunities for game developers. Tencent has launched its cloud gaming solution this year. Alibaba begins trading in Hong Kong next Tuesday.
-- Georgina Lee    


China indexes close with biggest percentage gain in two weeks

China’s top legislative affairs body has hit out at Hong Kong’s High Court ruling that the emergency anti-mask law was unconstitutional, arguing only the national legislature has the right to decide on issues of constitutionality.
Zang Tiewei, spokesman for the Legislative Affairs Commission (LAC) of the National People's Congress Standing Committee (NPCSC), said the ruling “did not comply” with aspects of Hong Kong’s mini-constitution, the Basic Law, as well as the NPCSC position, according to the state-run Xinhua news agency.
Zang said the national legislature was the only body that could decide whether Hong Kong laws complied with the Basic Law, which provided the legal underpinning for post-handover Hong Kong.
“[China’s] constitution and the Basic Law jointly form the constitutional foundation of [Hong Kong],” he added.
“Whether Hong Kong’s laws are consistent with the Hong Kong Basic Law can only judged and decided by the NPCSC.
“No other authority has the right to make judgments and decisions.”
Read full story by Tony Cheung and William Zheng here. 


China slams Hong Kong court’s ruling of anti-mask law as unconstitutional, says only Beijing can decide on constitutionality

Investors in Hong Kong stocks continued to shrug off concerns about the protest-ravaged city’s outlook, as the mega secondary listing of Alibaba injected a much-needed positive momentum into the blue chip index.
The Hang Seng Index rose 1.6 per cent, at 27.093.8 -- its biggest gains in two weeks. Despite the city still being rocked by an ongoing tear-gas and fire-bomb standoff staged between hardcore protesters and police over the past few days, the ongoing marketing of Alibaba Group’s IPO, which could raise up to US$13.86 billion, lifted the index.
Alibaba will begin trading on the Hong Kong main board on November 26.
Alvin Cheung, an associate director at Prudential Brokerage, observes that generally, the broader market performance improves as the pricing and listing of a new mega-sized IPO approaches.
“Generally institutional investors, particularly those involved in the preparation work of IPOs, would be incentivised to avoid selling down a market as a way to create favourable market conditions for the listing,” he said.
Benefiting from the listing, which is expected to catapult Hong Kong back to the top global IPO capital ranking, Hong Kong Exchanges and Clearing (388 HK) rose 2.8 per cent to HK$251.8.
“HKEX is also expected to benefit from the H-share full circulation reform announced by Chinese regulator last week,” said Cheung. The H-share full circulation will enable major shareholders of all Hong Kong-listed mainland companies to unlock their stock into ordinary tradable shares, a move expected to release more shares for trading and improve company corporate governance.
Leading the index higher was social media giant Tencent (700 HK), which rose 2 per cent to HK$336.6. Banks also did well, with China Construction Bank (939 HK) rising 1.7 per cent to HK$6.42. Meanwhile, insurer AIA ( 1299 HK) rose 1.3 per cent to HK$79.5.
Snack and beverage maker Want Want China (151 HK) surged 4.5 per cent to HK$6.68, after it reported that net profit attributable to shareholders for the six months ended September rose 18.4 per cent to 1.6 billion yuan.
-- Georgina Lee 
