Off the wire
• 1st LD: 11 injured as blast hits Shiite mosque in NW Pakistan  • Urgent: Blast wounds many near police station in SE Turkey town  • China reveals new cases of law enforcers' corruption  • Chinese vice premier meets Gazprom head  • Int'l coalition strikes kill 20 IS fighters in Syria  • Service sector pivot to economic restructuring: economists  • NBA result  • Ex-vice governor of N China Shanxi province expelled from CPC  • NBA standings  • 1st LD-Writethru: Chinese shares close higher, real estate leads  
You are here: 　 Home

Roundup: Hong Kong stocks close 1.07 percent higher

Xinhua, February 13, 2015 Adjust font size:

Hong Kong stocks rose 260.39 points, or 1.07 percent, to close on Friday at 24,682.54 points after the benchmark Hang Seng Index trading between 24,702.54 and 24,521.13.

Turnover totaled 71.70 billion HK dollars (9.25 billion U.S. dollars).

The People's Bank of China decided to cut banks' reserve requirement ratio (RRR) by 50 basis points earlier this month, along with an extra 50 basis points' slash in RRR for city commercial banks and some rural lenders that are qualified for targeted reduction.

This move marked the first time in three years that China's central bank lowered its RRR in a comprehensive way, having a huge impact on Hong Kong's financial market.

The Hang Seng China Enterprises Index ended up 138.95 points, or 1.18 percent, to close at 11,922.56 points.

Three of the four sub-indices gained ground. The Properties and Commerce & Industry sub-indices rose 1.05 percent and 0.95 percent respectively. The Finance gained 1.32 percent while the Utilities slid 0.4 percent.

Banking giant HSBC, which accounts for the largest weighting of the Hang Seng Index, closed up 1.34 percent to 71.75 HK dollars, and its local unit Hang Seng Bank rose 1.57 percent to 142 HK dollars. Local bourse operator HKEX gained 0.11 percent at 176.3 HK dollars.

Blue chips led the rally. China Resources Land advanced 3.72 percent to 20.35 HK dollars. Galaxy Entertainment rose 3.95 percent to 43.45 HK dollars.

Local developers Hang Lung Properties rose 2.98 percent to 22.5 HK dollars. The Wharf, another major developer in Hong Kong, advanced 1.53 percent to 59.9 HK dollars, and Cheung Kong Holding, a powerful HK-based developer controlled by billionaire Li Ka- shing, climbed 0.6 percent to 149.9 HK dollars.

Mainland-based financial stocks also rallied. Ping An Insurance (Group) rose 3 percent to 85.5 HK dollars. China Life Insurance gained 1.75 percent to 32 HK dollars. Bank of China advanced 1.38 percent to 4.4 HK dollars.

Bucking the trend, Hutchison Whampoa dropped 0.19 percent to 102.9 HK dollars. Lenovo Group Limited lost 1.14 percent to 12.12 HK dollars. Chow Tai Fook Jewellery Group retreated 0.81 percent to 9.85 HK dollars. Endi