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The bull run in Hong Kong stocks continued on Friday, as the Hang Seng Index notched up a fourth straight record close. Photo: Dickson Lee

Update | Hong Kong stocks finish week with a fourth straight record high

Hang Seng Index rally shows no signs of slowing as mainland developers see sizeable gains

Hong Kong stocks ended the week higher, hitting a record close for a fourth straight day on Friday.

The Hang Seng Index gained 0.41 per cent, or 132.95 points, to finish at 32,254.89, lifted by financial companies and Chinese property developers, while the Hang Seng China Enterprises Index, or the H-shares index, rose 0.65 per cent, or 84.60 points, to 13,179.52.

For the week, the Hang Seng Index advanced 2.7 per cent, up for a sixth week in a row. The H-shares index jumped 5.7 per cent. Average daily turnover reached HK$174 billion, up 29 per cent from the previous week.

“The market will remain at this level, and could even climb a bit higher next week,” said Stanley Chan, director of research at Emperor Securities. “This is mainly because of strong market liquidity as well as the economic data in China being strong, so market sentiment remains very good at the moment.”

The benchmark index set a new record on Tuesday when it reached 31,904.75 and has continued to rise since then, breaking through the 32,000 mark on Thursday.

Turnover today reached HK$162.6 billion.

“The financial sector remained the leader in the market, mainly because their valuations remain low and the profit outlook good,” Chan said. “Chinese property companies regained some momentum, so they will also help lead the market next week.”

Banks saw the highest turnover, with HK$20.59 billion of shares changing hands. ICBC rose 0.42 per cent to HK$7.19 and Bank of China gained 0.45 per cent to HK$4.43. HSBC Holdings and Bank of China Hong Kong saw slight losses.

Mainland developers saw some sizeable gains. China Resources Land soared 7.4 per cent to HK$28.20. Country Garden and China Overseas Land & Development jumped 3.15 per cent and 5.67 per cent to HK$17.04 and HK$29.80 respectively. Evergrande was up 3.32 per cent to HK$28.00, and CK Asset jumped 2.15 per cent to HK$73.55.

Separately, Wanda Hotel Development, a unit of Dalian Wanda Group, suspended trading of its shares, pending “a possibly very substantial disposal”.

Technology shares advanced, receiving a boost from Apple, which touched a new all-time high of US$180.05 after the company said it will bring billions of dollars of foreign earnings back to the US and invest in domestic jobs in the coming years.

Tencent Holdings lifted the index by the most, climbing 1.03 per cent to HK$452.40 with a turnover of HK$6.65 billion. Apple supplier Sunny Optical Technology also shot up 4.2 per cent to HK$111.80.

Oil and gas stocks were the biggest losers on Friday. China Oilfield was down 1.73 per cent to HK$9.09; Kunlun Energy lost 1.8 per cent to HK$7.64 per cent, and CNOOC dropped 0.98 per cent to HK$12.14.

On the mainland, the Shanghai Composite Index gained 0.37 per cent to 3,487.86, while the large-company tracking CSI 300 rose 0.33 per cent to 4,285.40. The Shenzhen Composite Index lost 0.14 to 1,921.54, while the ChiNext Price Index dropped 0.57 per cent to 1,728.14.

This article appeared in the South China Morning Post print edition as: Hong Kong stocks hit record close for fourth straight day
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