Thursday, 09 July 2015 14:32
HONG KONG: Hong Kong stocks surged more than three percent by the close Thursday on bargain-hunting and a rally in Shanghai after China announced new measures to staunch a mainland rout.
The city’s benchmark Hang Seng Index ended up 3.73 percent, or 876.23 points, at 24,392.79 points on turnover of HK$ 212.07 billion ($ 27.35 billion) after suffering heavy losses on Wednesday.
Hong Kong has been buffeted by a rout in China that has also spread into regional markets, as well as fears for Greece’s future in the eurozone.
With Shanghai struggling, Chinese investors pulled out of Hong Kong — where multiple mainland firms are listed — sending it plunging almost six percent Wednesday in its worst single-day performance since November 2008, at the height of the global financial crisis.
Thursday’s rally came as Shanghai swung from losses to gains after China announced more measures to try to staunch a sell-off that has seen more than 30 percent wiped from mainland shares and fanned fears about the wider economy.
The Shanghai Composite Index closed up 5.76 percent, or 202.14 points, at 3,709.33.
It fell as much as 3.81 percent and rose up to 6.88 percent during the day — an overall range of more than 10 percent.
Analysts said Hong Kong’s bounce came as shareholders snapped up falling stocks in their own firms.
“Some major shareholders of the companies (listed in Hong Kong) increased their shareholdings, so this gave the markets confidence,” said financial analyst Kevin Tam of Core Pacific-Yamaichi.
“The valuations have become attractive.”
