Hong Kong stocks recover to pre-national security law sell-off levels, market rises for third day in a row
- Hong Kong, mainland markets on three-day and five-day rising streak, respectively
- The market is filled with capital, and investors are looking for opportunities to invest amid a global economic recovery, analyst says
The Hong Kong market rose to an intraday high of 24,364.01, rising above 24,280 points, its close on May 21, in a recovery to pre-national security law sell-off levels on Wednesday.
Stocks in the city and mainland China followed in the footsteps of the S&P 500, which closed at its highest level since early March in the US overnight, while European stocks also rallied, as economic reopenings globally accelerated amid favourable signs from early economic data.
The Hang Seng Index closed 1.4 per cent higher at 24,325.62, its third consecutive gain this week. It erased all losses made since China’s legislature shocked the markets with its May 21 announcement of a plan to introduce a national security law for Hong Kong. The China Enterprises Index, which tracks the performance of H shares in Hong Kong, advanced 0.8 per cent to an 18-day high of 9,958.84. In mainland China, the Shanghai Composite Index closed 0.07 per cent higher at 2,923.37 for its fifth session of gains over the past five trading days.
“The market is filled with capital, and investors are looking for opportunities to invest” amid a global economic recovery, said Gordon Tsui, managing director at Hantec Pacific. “The emergence of IPOs and new technology stocks such as NetEase have helped to boost market sentiment.”
NetEase, a Chinese internet company, said on Monday that it was targeting as much as US$3 billion in a secondary listing in Hong Kong. Following news of a similar listing by JD.com, China’s second-largest online retailer, bourse operator Hong Kong Exchanges and Clearing itself rose on Wednesday to a record high for the year. It was up more than 2 per cent during trading and ended the day 1.8 per cent higher.
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Auto stocks were among the big gainers in Hong Kong, with mainland China car sales expected to rise 3.2 per cent month on month and 11.7 per cent year on year in May, according to the China Association of Automobile Manufacturers. Geely Auto rose 2.9 per cent.