Hong Kong shares closed 1.9 percent higher on Wednesday, lifted by sharp post-earnings relief rallies in index heavyweights China Mobile and China Life. The market posted most of its gains in the post-lunch session, an encore of Tuesday's late rally, driven by frenetic buying ahead of the index futures expiry on Thursday.
"Futures rollover-related buying has peaked between Tuesday and today," said Patrick Yiu, associate director at CASH Asset Management. "Investors seem keen on swapping their contracts at the 21,000 to 21,200 level, and today China Mobile results proved to the catalyst for that big push."
China Mobile led gainers with a 3.5 percent jump after posting forecast beating first-half earnings, while shares of the nation's top insurer shot up 4.9 percent in an extended rally as investors continued to cheer the smaller-than-expected decline in its bottom line.
The benchmark Hang Seng Index closed up 408.06 points at 21,464.72 after ending the morning session just 0.7 percent higher. Mainboard turnover rose to HK$61 billion ($7.8 billion) from Tuesday's dismal HK$48 billion.
Offshore oil producer CNOOC climbed 3.8 percent. Oil prices hovered near $117 per barrel as Hurricane Gustav headed towards US oil and gas installations in the Gulf of Mexico. Asia's largest oil & gas company, Petrochina, was up 3.4 percent. Both oil majors were to announce their first half earnings later in the day.
Coal stocks jumped in Hong Kong, defying declines in their Shanghai-listed scripts after Chinese authorities said they would strengthen enforcement of price caps on thermal coal. China Shenhua gained 5.7 percent while smaller rival China Coal advanced 6.3 percent. The China Enterprises Index of top locally listed mainland Chinese firms was 3.3 percent higher.
Metals and shipping stocks joined the rally in resources stocks, rebounding off lows, encouraged by better-than-expected blue chip earnings. China COSCO Holdings Co Ltd, the listed flagship of the country's premier shipping conglomerate, climbed 8.2 percent after doubling its first half earnings to 15.12 billion yuan. The net beat an average forecast of 13.9 billion yuan from three analysts polled by Reuters.
Jiangxi Copper Co Ltd, China's top integrated copper producer, soared 9.5 percent after posting a 32 percent rise in first half earnings on higher by-product prices. Tsingtao Brewery, China's best-known beer brand, which has soared 22 percent since announcing a 42 percent increase in first-half net profit last week, moved up 7 percent on Wednesday. The stock had fallen to a 16 month low just ahead of its earnings announcement.