Hong Kong blue chips ended at a record closing high on Friday after a surprise last-minute surge drove the market 0.8 percent higher, with Henderson Land scaling 9-1/2-year peaks to lead a rally in property stocks.
China shares showed their best one-day percentage gain in two months, with PetroChina Co Ltd jumping as much as 16 percent after its landmark oil find, while China Shenhua Energy Co Ltd surged on its inclusion in the MSCI Standard Index Series.
The benchmark Hang Seng Index spent most of the day struggling around the 20,800 level, but bulls took charge near the market close to drive the index 0.6 percent short of its all-time high of 20,971.46, hit in January. The index, up 1.5 percent for the week, gained 159.50 points to 20,841.08, its highest-ever close.
Castor Pang, strategist at Sun Hung Kai Financial, said a new high was within sight next week as the mainland A-share stock markets re-open after a long holiday. "Most investors are more bullish now," Pang said. "We can penetrate the historical record if A shares hit another high. The major factor is the A-share market."
The China Enterprises index of H shares, or Hong Kong-listed shares in mainland companies, gained 249.23 points to 10,383.63, for a weekly 2.4 percent gain. Volume was heavy at HK$64.0 billion (US $8.2 billion), thanks to PetroChina's HK$11.7 billion turnover, or roughly four times the turnover of HSBC Holdings Plc, the day's second-most active stock.
PetroChina ended up nearly 14 percent at HK$10.16 after its state-run parent said on Thursday its oil discovery in China's Bohai Bay held proven reserves of nearly 3 billion barrels. This would rank it among the world's biggest finds this decade.
Other oil stocks rode PetroChina's coattails. CNOOC Ltd climbed 1.8 percent to HK$6.99 and Sinopec Corp gained 1 percent to HK$7.04. Property shares beat the broad market with a 3.1 percent gain ahead of Tuesday's land auction for a West Kowloon site.
Henderson Land was the best-performing blue chip, rallying a further 6.8 percent to HK$54.05 in heavy trade. Merrill Lynch earlier in the week raised Henderson Land's price target by 28 percent to HK$66.50, saying the market had overlooked the developer's large asset base in mainland China.
China Shenhua Energy surged 3.7 percent to HK$20.85 after its inclusion in MSCI's emerging markets index and China index. Tencent and Tingyi also rose after their addition to the MSCI Hong Kong index. Tencent Holdings Ltd shot up 3.1 percent to HK$30 in heavy trade, earlier striking an all-time high. Tingyi Holdings Corp rose 1.3 percent to HK$8.41.
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