Hong Kong shares climbed 0.55 percent on Thursday, in line with a broad regional rally, as hopes were raised for ongoing Ukraine crisis talks and dealers await the release of US jobs data. The benchmark Hang Seng Index added 123.19 points, to 22,702.97 on turnover of HK$70.51 billion (US $9.10 billion). Russia came under heightened diplomatic pressure as the UN Security Council and European Union leaders began separate talks on Ukraine, but investor confidence has slowly picked up after Monday's heavy sell-off.
US Secretary of State John Kerry met his Russian counterpart Sergei Lavrov in Paris Wednesday for the first time since the crisis began. While no breakthrough was made, both sides will try again later Thursday in Rome. Shares in the first Chinese auction house to be listed in Hong Kong, Poly Culture Group, closed up 29 percent on their debut, following a recent $331 million initial public offering.
Poly Culture, the world's third largest auction house by revenue behind Sotheby's and Christie's, made a splash with shares reaching HK$42.60 by the end of trading. Energy giant CNOOC added 1.46 percent to HK$12.54, HSBC edged up 0.06 percent to HK$81.45, Hang Lung Properties climbed 0.47 percent to HK$21.25 and China Mobile was 0.07 percent higher at HK$73.80. Chinese shares closed up 0.32 percent. The benchmark Shanghai Composite Index rose 6.50 points to 2,059.58 on turnover of 92.6 billion yuan ($15.2 billion).
The Shenzhen Composite Index, which tracks stocks on China's second exchange, gained 0.18 percent, or 2.02 points, to 1,105.69 on turnover of 127.2 billion yuan. Property developers jumped after Premier Li Keqiang said Wednesday that the government would take into account conditions in different cities in regulating the real estate market. In Shanghai China Vanke surged 8.28 percent to 7.32 yuan while Poly Real Estate gained 5.41 percent to 7.01 yuan.
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