Hong Kong share prices posted their fifth rise in six sessions yesterday, supported by a cocktail of positive local and international factors, brokers said.
Lower local interbank rates, coupled with expectations of a monetary easing on the mainland, helped shares to gain ground across the board, although many brokers cautioned that a short-term pull-back might be imminent.
The firmer tone on Wall Street on Friday and signs of an increase in fund buying ahead of the year-end were also cited as factors underpinning the gains.
ABN-Amro Hoare Govett Asia group head of strategy Jake van der Kamp said: 'There is no doubt about the future of the Hong Kong dollar peg and so you have interest rates coming down.' The Hang Seng Index rose 195.34 points, or 1.69 per cent, to end at 11,722.94. The advance took blue-chip gains this month to 11.37 per cent.
Turnover was $13.24 billion, compared with the daily average of $10.13 billion over the past month.
'You had a sympathetic decline with the rest of Asia and an attack on the currency. That's behind us now and you'll find prices coming back up,' Mr van der Kamp said.
The market opened slightly firmer and made consistent gains into the early afternoon to touch a day high of 11,842.73. Profit-taking eroded prices towards the close of trade.
