Hong Kong stocks ended up 0.33 percent on Wednesday, ending a four-day losing streak, led by gains in market heavyweights China Mobile and HSBC Holdings Plc.
Mainland insurers also climbed, with China Life Insurance Co Ltd rising 2.5 percent to HK$12.55 after the country's top life insurer posted a 22 percent rise in first-half premiums from a year earlier. The benchmark Hang Seng index added 53.60 points to finish at 16,097.54. Turnover totalled HK$19.6 billion (US $2.5 billion), down from HK$21.4 billion on Tuesday.
Despite the gains, any sustained uptrend in the near term was unlikely as fund managers had turned increasingly cautious, analysts said. "The market is sticky - it's difficult for it to go anywhere," said Dale Tsang, managing director at GC Capital (Asia) Ltd, citing geopolitical risks and an uncertain interest rate outlook in the United States and China.
"People are adjusting their portfolios. They're just not comfortable with what's going on." Investors hope to get a clearer direction on US interest rates when Federal Reserve chairman Ben Bernanke delivers his semi-annual monetary report to Congress later in the day.
"The interest rate-inflation balancing act isn't going away," said Matt McKeith, Head of Equity Dealing at First State Investments. "It's the macro picture that is going to drive the market direction. You've got strong China GDP growth figures - are there going to be more tightening measures? They didn't work before. Is China going to be more aggressive?"
According to Merrill Lynch's July Pacific Rim Fund Manager survey, a net 40 percent of respondents believed the Asian profit outlook would deteriorate over the next year, the lowest level since the bank began the survey in 1997.
The bank found that the region's fund managers were showing "less conviction as each month passes", tempering growth and earnings expectations along the way.
Index heavyweights staged a rebound, with HSBC edging up 0.5 percent to HK$135.50 and China Mobile, the biggest boost to the Hang Seng index, jumping 1.3 percent to HK$44.70.
Insurers gained after mainland media reported total insurance premiums in China rose 13 percent in the first half. Insurance companies which invest in interest-bearing instruments like bonds also benefited from speculation that there would be further interest rate rises in China. Ping An Insurance surged 4.6 percent to HK$23.70.
Mainland carrier China Eastern Airlines Corp Ltd climbed 2 percent to HK$1.03. It is seeking to sell a stake to Singapore Airlines, sources at China Eastern said on Wednesday.
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