Off the wire
• International legal team to represent jailed Maldivian leader  • Singapore stocks close 0.14 pct lower  • Foreign exchange rates in Singapore  • Indian PM comes to rescue of distressed farmers hit by unseasonal rains  • BMW to recall flawed vehicles in China  • Two Israeli soldiers hurt in West Bank stabbing attack  • Senior UN official visits war-ravaged north of Sri Lanka  • 1st Ld: Chinese stocks advance to fresh 7-yr highs  • Gold price closes higher in Hong Kong  • Bhullar becomes first Indian descent to play NBA game  
You are here: 　 Home

Roundup: HK stocks close up 3.8 pct, turnover hits record high

Xinhua, April 8, 2015 Adjust font size:

Hong Kong stocks jumped 3.8 percent on Wednesday, the first post-holiday trading day, with the benchmark Hang Seng index climbing 961.22 points to end at 26,236. 86 points.

Turnover hit a record high of 250.03 billion HK dollars (about 32.14 billion U.S. dollars), boosted by investment flow from mainland investors.

The bourse also saw mainland investors use up their daily quota of 10.5 billion yuan to buy Hong Kong stocks through the Shanghai- Hong Kong Stock Connect program, the first time since the scheme was launched last November.

Analysts said part of the reason for the increased southbound flows is that Chinese regulators last week allowed mutual funds to buy Hong Kong shares under the program.

The Hang Seng China Enterprises Index also rallied 733.47 points, or 5.79 percent, to close at 13,396.59.

Four sub-indices all gained ground, with the Commerce and Industry sub-index rising the most by 4.25 percent, followed by the Finance 4.23 percent, the Properties 1.57 percent and the Utility 1.12 percent.

Banking giant HSBC, which accounts for the largest weighting of the Hang Seng Index, jumped 1.9 percent to 68.25 HK dollars, while its local unit Hang Seng Bank added 0.5 percent to 141.30 HK dollars. Local bourse operator HKEX advanced 12.2 percent to 220. 00 HK dollars.

Local developers Hang Lung Properties increased 2.7 percent to 22.75 HK dollars. Henderson Land, another major developer in Hong Kong, climbed 1.1 percent to 56.00 HK dollars. Cheung Kong Holding, a powerful HK-based developer controlled by billionaire Li Ka- shing, lost 1.3 percent to 157.30 HK dollars.

As for mainland-based financial stocks, China Construction Bank, the country's second largest bank which accounts for the third largest weighting of the Hang Seng Index, rose 5.0 percent to 6.89 HK dollars. ICBC, the world's largest bank by market value, was up 3.4 percent to 6.05 HK dollars. Bank of China jumped 4.8 percent to 4.84 HK dollars.

PetroChina, the country's largest oil and gas producer, went up 6.5 percent to 9.32 HK dollars. (1 U.S. dollar equals 7.761 HK dollars) Endi