Hong Kong shares rose on Monday on hopes that China and the United States will eventually reach a deal to avert a trade war, even as Beijing repeated that it was impossible for negotiations to take place under current conditions.
The Hang Seng index rose 1.3 percent, to 30,229.58, while the China Enterprises Index gained 0.9 percent, to 12,073.00 points. "We think the 1st round macro impact of US trade actions on China is limited (if implemented)," UBS Securities wrote. "Our baseline scenario is still that China and US could eventually reach a deal after negotiations, but the risk of more trade frictions and longer negotiation period increases notably."
The sub-index of the Hang Seng tracking energy shares rose 0.6 percent while the IT sector rose 1.24 percent, the financial sector was 0.98 percent higher and property sector rose 1.35 percent.
The top gainer on Hang Seng was Sunny Optical Technology Group Co Ltd up 5.8 percent, while the biggest loser was Want Want China Holdings Ltd which was down 0.32 percent.
As of the previous trading session, the Hang Seng index was down 0.25 percent this year, while China's H-share index was up 2.2 percent.