Hong Kong shares hit 6-week high

Hong Kong's main stock index closed at its highest level in over six weeks on Friday as a surprise rise in factory activity in mainland China and increased hopes of a US-China trade agreement cheered investors.

At close, the Hang Seng index climbed 0.7% at 27,100.76 points, its highest level since Sept. 16. The index gained 1.6% week-on-week. The Hang Seng China Enterprises index rose 0.9% on Friday. The sub-index of the Hang Seng tracking energy shares rose 0.5%, the IT sector climbed 0.3%, the financial sector ended 0.9% higher and the property sector rose 0.8%.

The top gainer on the Hang Seng was Sunny Optical Technology Group Co Ltd with a 2.1% gain, while the biggest loser was CSPC Pharmaceutical Group Ltd, which fell 1.6%.

About 1.42 billion Hang Seng index shares were traded. The volume traded in the previous trading session was 1.91 billion. At close, China's A-shares were trading at a premium of 29.86% over Hong Kong-listed H-shares.