Update | HSBC lifts Hong Kong stocks with talk of headquarters move

Hong Kong’s benchmark Hang Seng Index rebounded sharply Friday afternoon from a midday slump after  HSBC announced it was reviewing whether to remain based in London.

The index closed up 233.28 points, or 0.84 per cent at 28,060.98, after having fallen nearly 200 points in the morning session. The index gained 1.4 per cent for the week.

More than half of Friday’s gain came from HSBC stock, which rose 4.1 per cent to close at HK$73.70, a three-month high, after the London-based bank said it was examining where best to headquarter given upcoming changes to British regulations.

Speculation that banking rival Standard Chartered might also review its domicile helped drive its stock up 4.43 per cent to HK$127.60, the highest close this month.

Ben Kwong Man-bun, a director of brokerage KGI Asia, said the overall Hong Kong and mainland markets were consolidating after several weeks of heavy buying.

“The market gainers are already overbought,” Kwong said, pointing to tech stocks like Tencent, which finished the day up 0.44 per cent at HK$ 161.70.

Despite being mired in ongoing litigation over asset valuations and alleged fraud, the market’s biggest winner was Siberian Mining Group, up 162 per cent to 60 HK cents a share, after the company filed 2012 and 2013 year-end accounts, ending an 18-month trading suspension.