Hong Kong shares climbed 0.73 percent Monday after Wall Street hit new records in response to solid US jobs data last week while dealers also welcomed upbeat economic figures from China and Japan. The benchmark Hang Seng Index added 166.47 points to 23,117.47 on turnover of HK$44.09 billion (US $5.69 billion).
Regional markets were broadly higher Monday, taking a cue from New York shares after data showed the US economy added a net 217,000 jobs in May, in line with expectations and the fourth straight month above 200,000. The Dow climbed 0.52 percent and the S&P 500 jumped 0.46 percent, both ending at record highs. The Nasdaq added 0.59 percent to close at its best level since mid-March.
Sunday saw China release figures showing the country's key exports jumped seven percent in May, much better than the 0.9 percent seen in April and in line with forecasts of 7.2 percent. The results came a week after reports showed a solid increase in manufacturing activity, easing concerns about the strength of the Asian economic giant and key driver of global growth
Building on the good news, Japan on Monday unveiled revised data showing the economy grew 1.6 percent in the first quarter of 2014 as consumers stepped up shopping before April's sales tax rise. On an annualised basis - a hypothetical figure that stretches the pace of growth over the course of a year - the economy grew 6.7 percent. Cathay Pacific Airways added 1.12 percent to HK$14.50, Henderson Land Development gained 2.33 percent to HK$52.80, PetroChina was 0.21 percent higher at HK$9.39 and HSBC put on 0.37 percent to HK$81.45, while China Mobile advanced 0.46 percent to HK$75.90. In China the benchmark Shanghai Composite Index was flat, edging up 0.55 points to 2,030.50 on turnover of 55.1 billion yuan ($8.8 billion).
The Shenzhen Composite Index, which tracks stocks on China's second exchange, fell 0.59 percent, or 6.25 points, to 1,049.31 on turnover of 78.1 billion yuan. Dealers were buoyed last month after government lowered the amount of money some rural banks must hold as reserves, but investors were hoping for monetary easing on a wider scale, analysts said.
"The economy is slowing but it's not weak enough to warrant a cut in reserve requirement ratio across all banks yet," Everbright Securities analyst Zeng Xiaozhao told Dow Jones Newswires. "But it is something that investors are looking out for." Dealers are now awaiting inflation figures on Tuesday as well as industrial output and retail sales data on Friday. Rare earth producers closed up on hopes a government move to control exploration of the commodity will help prices.
Xiamen Tungsten gained 1.76 percent to 25.44 yuan while Inner Mongolia Baotou Steel Rare-Earth rose 0.84 percent to 19.26 yuan. On the Shenzhen market, information security related stocks were lower on profit-taking. Westone Information Industry slumped 5.38 percent to 32.38 yuan while Bluedon Information Security Technology lost 2.87 percent to 17.29 yuan.
Comments
Comments are closed.