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Roundup: Hong Kong stocks close 1.34 pct higher

Xinhua, October 23, 2015 Adjust font size:

Hong Kong stocks snapped a two-day losing streak to finish higher on Friday due to improved market sentiment.

The benchmark Hang Seng Index moved up 306.57 points, or 1.34 percent, to close at 23,151.94 points, after trading between 23,088.03 and 23,220.38.

Turnover totaled 72.53 billion HK dollars (about 9.36 billion U.S. dollars), up from 69.17 billion HK dollars the previous trading day.

Sentiment was bolstered by news that the European Central Bank may expand its asset buying programme, and that the Mainland's new home prices rose for a fifth straight month in September.

The Hang Seng China Enterprises Index rose 1.34 percent, or 141.52 points, to close at 10,742.04 points.

All of the four sub-indices gained ground. The Properties rose the most by 1.86 percent, followed by the Finance 1.4 percent, the Commerce & Industry 1.23 percent and the Utilities 0.63 percent.

Local developers rose across the board. Sun Hung Kai, one of Hong Kong's largest property developer by market value, closed at 106.9 HK dollars, up 2.4 percent. Henderson Land climbed 2.61 percent to 51.2 HK dollars. CKH Holdings ended at 108.2 HK dollars, up 0.65 percent.

Banking giant HSBC, which accounts for the largest weighting of the Hang Seng Index, added 0.66 percent to 61.1 HK dollars.

Bank of East Asia, one of the largest local banks in Hong Kong, moved up 2.26 percent to close at 29.45 HK dollars.

Local bourse operator HKEX edged up 0.88 percent to 205.4 HK dollars.

Mainland-based financial stocks closed generally higher. Bank of China gained 1.05 percent to close at 3.83 HK dollars. China Construction Bank went up 1.03 percent to 5.85 HK dollars. Industrial and Commercial Bank of China, the nation's largest lender, rose 1.18 percent to 5.14 HK dollars.

Energy stocks posted lackluster performances. China's top refiner Sinopec increased 2.85 percent to 5.77 HK dollars. PetroChina, the country's largest oil and gas producer, rose 1.61 percent to 6.32 HK dollars.

China Mobile, China's dominant mobile carrier, edged up 0.65 percent to 93.35 HK dollars. China Unicom, another Chinese telecom giant, lost 1.21 percent to 9.84 HK dollars. (1 U.S. dollar equals to 7.75 HK dollars) Endit