Hong Kong stocks ended higher on Thursday, tracking the global rally in equities and led higher by financial firms, which tracked gains in mainland peers and helped mitigate losses in energy shares. The Hang Seng index rose 0.2 percent, to 28,459.03 points, while the China Enterprises Index gained 0.8 percent, to 11,500.34 points.
Performance across sectors was mixed. Top developer Sunac China Holdings leapt 5 percent, helping property and construction firms end 1 percent higher. Financial stocks added 0.4 percent, with bellwether China Taiping Insurance closing 7.5 percent at a one-month high. But energy firms eased, tracking losses in mainland peers, after Beijing vowed to curb pollution throughout winter.
Northern China's Shanxi province, the country's top coal producing region, will aim to cut concentrations of hazardous airborne particles known as PM2.5 by 40 percent over the winter months, the official Xinhua news agency reported.