Hong Kong Market Soars As Tech, Financials Rise

Hong Kong and mainland markets rallied on Tuesday, extending gains and tracking a healthy lead from Wall Street, as investors keep tabs on developments in the China-US trade standoff.

The Hang Seng Index climbed 0.8 percent, to 27,789.

China Literature surged 7.7 percent on its HK$500 million share buy-back plan.

Tech shares were buoyant, with Xiaomi gaining 2.2 percent and Meituan adding 1.8 percent.

Chinese financials also did well, with Ping An Insurance rallying 2.1 percent, while China Construction Bank and ICBC each gained more than 1 percent.

Hong Kong Exchanges and Clearing closed 2.6 percent higher, boosted by reports that Alibaba could file a formal listing application in the next few weeks.

On the mainland, the Shanghai Composite Index jumped 2.6 percent, to 2,925 and the Shenzhen Composite Index surged 3.7 percent, to 1,538.

Tokyo ended 0.3 percent higher, Sydney climbed 1.6 percent and Singapore put on 0.7 percent while Seoul added 0.6 percent. Wellington was up more than 1 percent, with Taipei strengthening 0.4 percent and Manila advancing 0.5 percent.

Focus is now on the expected face-to-face between President Xi Jinping and his US counterpart Donald Trump at the G20 in Osaka at the end of June.

While expectations are for an agreement to eventually be made – which would be in the interests of both sides – Ray Attrill, head of forex strategy at NAB, said the "meeting is gearing up to be another major 'binary' risk event that should keep markets very edgy in the coming days and weeks". (AFP)