Hong Kong stocks rose sharply yesterday as easing bond yields and gains on Wall Street brought out the buyers. Expectations that today's job growth figures from the United States will be moderate boosted US stocks on Wednesday and dragged long-bond yields below the critical 7 per cent mark. Aggressive buying of futures reflected the surging confidence and helped the market close at the day's high. The benchmark Hang Seng Index closed 133.32 points, or 1.2 per cent, up at 11,225.83, its biggest one-day gain since May 20. Turnover was improved at $4.67 billion, up from the revised $3.99 billion for Wednesday. Vickers Ballas Securities Hong Kong research director Andrew Fernow said: 'Sentiment is much better now the bond yields have pulled back under 7 per cent. People are betting the unemployment figures will not be too alarming.' Property and bank stocks made the best gains as the spectre of higher interest rates diminished. Brokers said signals the US economy was not growing strongly enough to merit an interest rate rise before the US election had brought investors back to equities. Bond yields fell 5.3 basis points to 6.94 per cent on Wednesday. The futures were a focal point as heavy overseas interest helped pull the cash market up, particularly in later trading. Head of research at Fimat Derivatives in Hong Kong Christopher Day said: 'There were very, very aggressive bids coming out of the States. People are looking for this thing to go a fair bit higher.' The June futures contract added 150 points to 11,270, and the July contract added 155 points to 11,340, a healthy 114.17-point premium to the cash. Among the 33 Hang Seng Index stocks, 28 rose, three closed unchanged, and two went backwards. Property stocks were the strongest as falling bond yields reinforced confidence the property market is recovering. Sun Hung Kai Properties added $1.25 to $79, and New World Development gained 50 cents to $37.20. Utilities were also in favour as they rebounded from selling earlier in the week. Hongkong Electric rose 45 cents to $24.75, and China Light & Power gained 30 cents to $36.50. Media stocks continued to attract interest as the newspaper price war dwindles to a close. Oriental Press Group rose for a fifth day, soaring 4.9 per cent to $4.275, and Hong Kong Daily News rose 4.2 per cent to $1.48. Looking ahead, brokers see the market heading higher over the near term but say today's jobs growth figure from the US still could prove a surprise. Mr Fernow said: 'Everyone has to watch out for what happens in the US, but things are looking pretty good right now.'
